New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) on Thursday was elected as party chairwoman, replacing Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), who resigned in the aftermath of the party’s poor performance in last year’s local elections.
Wang was elected by the party’s new 15-member decisionmaking committee, after all its members joined Chen in resigning.
Wang on Thursday said the election setback has not deterred the party’s hopes.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Wang is to assume the top post on March 1 for a two-year term.
Wang said the NPP’s losses last year should be considered a public rebuke requiring a post-election review along with bolstered efforts to regain public trust.
The NPP, Taiwan’s fourth-largest political party, formed in early 2015 and was elected to 16 seats on city and county councils in 2018. That number dropped to six last year.
The party last year received 0.61 percent of votes cast for county commissioners and mayors, and 1.56 percent of votes cast for city and county council seats.
As the presidential and legislative elections approach next year, Wang said she plans to push for reforms, including expanding the party’s social ties, building consensus within the party, proposing viable economic policies to improve people’s livelihoods and forming an election campaign team.
The NPP elected 15 new decisionmaking committee members on Feb. 12.
Among those elected were Chen, Wang and former NPP chairman Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智).
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