After the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) suffered sweeping losses in Saturday’s legislative elections, TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said the party does not rule out disbanding.
The TSU gained only 2.51 percent of the party votes in Saturday’s legislative elections, failing short of the 5 percentage point threshold to be awarded a legislator-at-large seat and the 3.5 percentage point threshold to receive subsidies.
Neither of the two district legislative candidates nominated by the TSU were elected.
Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) resigned as TSU chairman on Monday.
In his speech, Huang recounted the TSU’s legislative achievements and said the party had “fully honored its commitment to the soil and people of Taiwan” and accomplished “its objectives for this phase” by carrying out its “founding mission to defend Taiwan’s national sovereignty and to protect the rights and welfare of the common people.”
Lin said the party will discuss the TSU’s future direction and consult former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), whom the TSU views as its spiritual leader, adding that a decision would be announced no later than Feb. 1.
The TSU was established in July 2001 after a call from Lee to create a party that would “secure democracy and strengthen Taiwan” and to give pro-localization voters another political choice besides the Democratic Progressive Party.
Lin said two paths for the TSU are under consideration.
The first strategy is to reduce TSU’s size and operations, and to continue with its signature message of resistance to China, he said.
The other option is to disband the TSU because it had fulfilled its founding mission of “helping the DPP to govern” and because the TSU “does not rule out” the alternative of “making the curtain call on a good show,” he said.
Lin said that during the eight years of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China administration, the TSU had acted as “the brake against the radical unification agenda,” and should be credited for helping to bring about the 2014 Sunflower movement.
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