The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday lost the presidential election to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by the second-biggest margin since the nation held its first direct presidential election in 1996, shattering KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) dream of keeping the party in power.
Chu, who had sought to win the presidency by branding himself as the nation’s sole choice for cross-strait peace and stability, garnered 31.04 percent of the total vote, while his primary challenger, DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), received 56.12 percent.
According to Central Election Commission data, Tsai won 6.89 million votes, leading Chu — who received 3.81 million votes — by 3.08 million votes.
Photo: CNA
The highest winning margin was recorded in the nation’s first direct presidential election in 1996, when the KMT’s candidate, President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), beat his DPP challenger, Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), by about 3.5 million votes.
In the 2008 presidential race, the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) crushed former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the DPP by approximately 2.2 million votes.
In his concession speech delivered at 7pm, Chu first apologized to his supporters for failing to live up to their expectations and for “failing to fulfill the KMT’s obligation to safeguard the Republic of China” (ROC), before bowing for five seconds.
Photo: CNA
“As both the chairman and presidential candidate of the KMT, I cannot shrink from my responsibility and must shoulder the blame. Dear friends, I have failed you. I will immediately resign from my post as KMT chairman,” Chu said.
“No way, we will not allow you [to resign]. The [ROC] national flag must not fall,” his supporters responded.
Extending his congratulations to Tsai on her victory, Chu said he hoped Tsai and the DPP would steer the nation toward a brighter and happier future, to which his supporters shouted: “Impossible.”
Several KMT supporters shed tears as Chu spoke, with some leaving in the middle of his speech because “it is too sad to listen to this.”
However, a number of elderly supporters disrupted Chu’s speech, saying: “How dare you to keep talking after losing.”
Chu then pledged to reflect on the KMT’s defeat and the party’s failure to be in sync with public opinion, while vowing to re-evaluate the party’s policy direction and its selection of personnel.
“While we have lost the election, we still have an obligation to supervise the nation’s future direction and development, the new government and the new ruling party. This is what a responsible opposition party should do,” Chu said.
The loss marks the third time that the KMT has become an opposition party, after 2000’s unprecedented victory by then-DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that put an end to the KMT’s nearly six-decade rule. Chen was re-elected in 2004.
It also deals a new blow to the KMT, whose disastrous defeat in the 2014 nine-in-one elections forced Ma to step down as KMT chairman.
A dismal atmosphere had been looming over the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei since the polls closed at 4pm.
Only a handful of supporters arrived at the headquarters for an open-air rally and to watch a live video feed of the ballots being counted about an hour after the count started. The approximately 250 red plastic stools set up at the rally were not filled until after 6pm.
As Tsai’s lead hit nearly 1.5 million votes at 5:30pm, Chu’s campaign spokesmen, Lee Cheng-hao (李正皓) and Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), attempted to lift the spirits of the crowd.
“Let us point our ROC national flags in the direction of Chu’s office and cheer,” Hsu said to the crowd, adding that Chu had arrived at the building at 2pm.
With the gap between Chu and Tsai continuing to widen, KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) announced his resignation on Facebook at 6pm, saying he had tendered his oral resignation earlier in the day.
“After tomorrow, let us continue to strive for Taiwan’s freedom, equality and happiness,” Yang wrote.
Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) stepped down as a KMT vice chairman after failing to secure a legislative seat in Keelung.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS