The opposition Democratic Progressive Party claimed Chiayi, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Keelung, Taichung and Tainan cities, as well as Changhua, Chiayi, Penghu, Pingtung, Taoyuan, Yilan and Yunlin counties. Independents took Taipei City and Hualien and Kinmen counties.
In Taipei, the KMT’s Sean Lien was defeated by Ko Wen-je. The former garnered 609,932 votes, or 40.82 percent, to the latter’s 853,983, or 57.16 percent.
New Taipei City incumbent Mayor Eric Chu was re-elected with 959,302 votes, or 50.06 percent, beating the DPP’s Yu Shyi-kun’s 934,774 votes, or 48.78 percent. In Taichung, incumbent Mayor Jason Hu secured 637,531 votes, or 42.94 percent, with the DPP’s Lin Chia-lung garnering 847,284 votes, or 57.06 percent.
Down south, KMT challenger Huang Hsiu-shuang picked up 264,536 votes, or 27.1 percent, while sitting Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te of the DPP attracted 711,557 votes, or 72.9 percent.
The KMT’s Yang Chiu-hsing also fell short by a wide margin in Kaohsiung, collecting 450,647 votes, or 30.89 percent, compared with incumbent Mayor Chen Chu of the DPP’s 993,300 votes, or 68.09 percent.
Overall, the KMT received 40.7 percent of the votes in the mayoral and magistrate elections, behind the DPP’s 47.55 percent. The independents garnered 11.7 percent.
Following the announcement of election results later in the evening, Premier Jiang Yi-huah resigned, stating that the public is obviously dissatisfied with the government. “The voice of the people has been heard loud and clear through their votes.”
Jiang said he assumed full political responsibility for the results and urged the Cabinet to accept criticism with humility and sincerity, so that the nation can rise to future challenges.
“The orderly and peaceful election process underscores the people’s commitment to the values of democracy,” the premier said, adding that Taiwan’s political system will earn wider affirmation from the world.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ying-wen said the result is a victory for the people of Taiwan. “It also represents the shouldering of responsibility by our younger generation.”
“In the future, Taiwan’s path will depend on the collective wisdom of the country’s political parties and civil society,” she said. “Faced with the power of the people, we should only become more humble.”
Voters also cast ballots for councilors in the country’s 22 cities and counties. The KMT and DPP won 386 and 291 seats, respectively, while independents claimed 203. The People First Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union both took nine seats, while the New Party won two.
This year’s local government elections saw the highest number of participating candidates in Taiwan’s history. At 67.59 percent, the turnout is lower than the 2010 special municipality elections at 71.71 percent. (SFC-JSM)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw