TAIPEI: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has resigned as leader of the ruling Radical Democratic Party following the local election defeat suffered by her party.
Tsai submitted her resignation on Saturday night, a tradition after a major loss, in a brief speech in which she also thanked supporters. She said she would shoulder the responsibility because she hand-picked the candidates in Saturday’s election.
Voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly chose the opposition KMT in several major races across the self-ruled island in Saturday’s election, in which concerns lingered about threats from China. gave way to more local issues.
Jiang Wan’an, the mayoral candidate of the Kuomintang, has won the closely watched seat in the capital, Taipei.
“I will show the world the greatness of Taipei,” he said in his victory speech on Saturday night. Other Kuomintang candidates also won mayors in Taoyuan, Taichung and New Taipei cities.
Not all of the votes had been officially counted at the time he spoke, but the numerical lead of Chiang and the other candidates allowed them to claim victory.
Kao Hung-an, a candidate in the relatively new Taiwan People’s Party, won the mayor seat in Hsinchu, a city home to many of Taiwan’s semiconductor companies.
Taiwanese are choosing mayors, city council members and other local leaders in all 13 counties and nine cities. There was also a referendum to reduce the voting age from 20 to 18.
While international observers and the ruling party have tried to link the elections to the long-term existential threat of Taiwan’s neighbour, many local experts do not think China has a role to play. large during this period.
“The international community has bet too high. They have raised local elections to the international level and the survival of Taiwan,” said Yeh-lih Wang, a political science professor at National Taiwan University.
During the campaign, there was little mention of large-scale military exercises targeting Taiwan that China staged in August in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“So I think if you can’t even raise this issue in Taipei,” Wang said. “You don’t even have to consider it in cities to the south.”
Instead, the campaigns are resolutely local: air pollution in downtown Taichung, traffic congestion in Taipei’s Nangang tech hub, and COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategies. of the island, which left the island short of supply during last year’s outbreak.
The failure of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party can be partly attributed to its handling of the pandemic.
Weihao Huang, a professor of political science at National Sun Yat-sen University, said: “The public is not happy with the DPP on this, even though Taiwan has done relatively well in containing the pandemic.
At an elementary school in New Taipei City, the city that surrounds Taipei, voters from young to old arrived early despite the rain.
Yu Mei-zhu, 60, said she came to vote for incumbent Mayor Hou You-yi. “I think he did a great job, so I want to continue to support him. I have confidence in him and that he can improve our environment in New Taipei City and our transportation infrastructure.”
President Tsai Ing-wen also arrived early Saturday morning to cast her ballot, surprising many voters when security and her entourage flooded the campus.
Tsai, who is also the chairwoman of the ruling party, has repeatedly spoken out about “opposing China and defending Taiwan” during the election campaign. But party candidate Chen Shih-chung, who is running for mayor in Taipei, only raised the issue of the threat of the Communist Party a few times before he quickly turned to local issues for not There is much interest, experts say.
“If the DPP loses many seats in the county, its ability to govern will be greatly challenged,” said You Ying-lung, president of the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, which regularly conducts public surveys on political issues, said.
Mr You said the election results would also in some way reflect the public’s attitude towards the ruling party’s performance over the past two years.
Some feel indifferent to the local race. Sean Tai, 26, an employee at a hardware store, said: “It seems that everyone is almost the same, from a policy standpoint.
Tai declined to say who he voted for, but wanted someone who would enhance Taipei’s status and provide a better economic outlook while keeping the status quo with China.
“We don’t want a total lockdown. I really hope that Taiwan can be recognized internationally,” he said.
Tsai submitted her resignation on Saturday night, a tradition after a major loss, in a brief speech in which she also thanked supporters. She said she would shoulder the responsibility because she hand-picked the candidates in Saturday’s election.
Voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly chose the opposition KMT in several major races across the self-ruled island in Saturday’s election, in which concerns lingered about threats from China. gave way to more local issues.
Jiang Wan’an, the mayoral candidate of the Kuomintang, has won the closely watched seat in the capital, Taipei.
“I will show the world the greatness of Taipei,” he said in his victory speech on Saturday night. Other Kuomintang candidates also won mayors in Taoyuan, Taichung and New Taipei cities.
Not all of the votes had been officially counted at the time he spoke, but the numerical lead of Chiang and the other candidates allowed them to claim victory.
Kao Hung-an, a candidate in the relatively new Taiwan People’s Party, won the mayor seat in Hsinchu, a city home to many of Taiwan’s semiconductor companies.
Taiwanese are choosing mayors, city council members and other local leaders in all 13 counties and nine cities. There was also a referendum to reduce the voting age from 20 to 18.
While international observers and the ruling party have tried to link the elections to the long-term existential threat of Taiwan’s neighbour, many local experts do not think China has a role to play. large during this period.
“The international community has bet too high. They have raised local elections to the international level and the survival of Taiwan,” said Yeh-lih Wang, a political science professor at National Taiwan University.
During the campaign, there was little mention of large-scale military exercises targeting Taiwan that China staged in August in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“So I think if you can’t even raise this issue in Taipei,” Wang said. “You don’t even have to consider it in cities to the south.”
Instead, the campaigns are resolutely local: air pollution in downtown Taichung, traffic congestion in Taipei’s Nangang tech hub, and COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategies. of the island, which left the island short of supply during last year’s outbreak.
The failure of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party can be partly attributed to its handling of the pandemic.
Weihao Huang, a professor of political science at National Sun Yat-sen University, said: “The public is not happy with the DPP on this, even though Taiwan has done relatively well in containing the pandemic.
At an elementary school in New Taipei City, the city that surrounds Taipei, voters from young to old arrived early despite the rain.
Yu Mei-zhu, 60, said she came to vote for incumbent Mayor Hou You-yi. “I think he did a great job, so I want to continue to support him. I have confidence in him and that he can improve our environment in New Taipei City and our transportation infrastructure.”
President Tsai Ing-wen also arrived early Saturday morning to cast her ballot, surprising many voters when security and her entourage flooded the campus.
Tsai, who is also the chairwoman of the ruling party, has repeatedly spoken out about “opposing China and defending Taiwan” during the election campaign. But party candidate Chen Shih-chung, who is running for mayor in Taipei, only raised the issue of the threat of the Communist Party a few times before he quickly turned to local issues for not There is much interest, experts say.
“If the DPP loses many seats in the county, its ability to govern will be greatly challenged,” said You Ying-lung, president of the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, which regularly conducts public surveys on political issues, said.
Mr You said the election results would also in some way reflect the public’s attitude towards the ruling party’s performance over the past two years.
Some feel indifferent to the local race. Sean Tai, 26, an employee at a hardware store, said: “It seems that everyone is almost the same, from a policy standpoint.
Tai declined to say who he voted for, but wanted someone who would enhance Taipei’s status and provide a better economic outlook while keeping the status quo with China.
“We don’t want a total lockdown. I really hope that Taiwan can be recognized internationally,” he said.
