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Saturday, November 26, 2022

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen resigns as party leader after local election loss - ABC News

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party after local election losses suffered by her party.

Voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly chose the opposition Nationalist party in several major races across the self-ruled island on Saturday in an election in which lingering concerns about threats from China took a back seat to more local issues.

Ms Tsai had spoken out many times about "opposing China and defending Taiwan" in the course of campaigning for her party.

However, the party's candidate, Chen Shih-chung — who lost his battle for mayor of Taipei — only raised the issue of the Communist Party's threat a few times before he quickly switched back to local issues because there was little interest, experts said.

Ms Tsai offered her resignation on Saturday evening, a tradition after a major loss, in a short speech in which she also thanked supporters.

"I must shoulder all the responsibility," she said.

"Faced with a result like this, there are many areas that we must deeply review."

President Tsai bows to crowd as she announces her resignation.
Ms Tsai said she must take responsibility for the party's performance.(Reuters: Ann Wang)

Outside observers raised stakes of local elections 'too high'

While international observers and the ruling party have attempted to link the elections to the long-term existential threat that is Taiwan's neighbour, many local experts do not think China — which claims the island as its territory to be annexed by force if necessary — has a large role to play this time around.

"The international community has raised the stakes too high," said Yeh-lih Wang, a political science professor at the National Taiwan University.

"They've raised a local election to this international level, and Taiwan's survival."

During campaigning, there were few mentions of the large-scale military exercises targeting Taiwan that China held in August in reaction to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit.

"So, I think if you can't even raise this issue in Taipei … you don't even need to consider it in cities in the south," Professor Wang said.

KMT make gains across country

Candidates from the Nationalist KMT party won the mayoral seat in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, as well as in Taoyuan, Taichung and New Taipei city.

Taiwanese were picking their mayors, city council members and other local leaders in all 13 counties and in nine cities.

Close up of man speaking into microphone as he raises his fist in sign of victory.
Chiang Wan-an of the KMT party has been elected Taipei's new mayor.(Reuters: Carlos Garcia Rawlins)

There was also a referendum to lower the voting age from 20 to 18, which was defeated, according to local media.

Chiang Wan-an, the new Taipei mayor, declared victory on Saturday night at a large rally.

"I will let the world see Taipei's greatness," he said.

Not all votes had been formally counted by the time of his speech, but Mr Chiang and the other candidates' numerical lead allowed them to declare victory.

Kao Hung-an — a candidate in the relatively new Taiwan People's Party — won the mayoral seat in Hsinchu, a city home to many of Taiwan's semi-conductor companies.

Local issues dominant focus of campaigns

Campaigns had resolutely focused on local issues: air pollution in the central city of Taichung, traffic snarls in Taipei's tech hub Nangang, and the island's COVID-19 vaccine purchasing strategies, which had left the island in short supply during an outbreak last year.

The defeat for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party may be partly due to how it handled the pandemic.

"The public has some dissatisfaction with the DPP on this, even though Taiwan has done well, relatively speaking, in pandemic prevention," said Weihao Huang, a political science professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University.

People line up to cast ballots at polling station.
The election results will, in some ways, reflect the public's attitude toward the ruling party's performance.(AP Photo: Chiang Ying-ying)

At an elementary school in New Taipei City, the city that surrounds Taipei, voters young and old came to vote early, despite the rain.

President Tsai Ing-wen also came out early on Saturday morning to cast her ballot, catching many voters by surprise as her security and entourage swept through the school.

"If the DPP loses many county seats, then their ability to rule will face a very strong challenge," said You Ying-lung, chair of the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation that regularly conducts public surveys on political issues.

The election results will, in some ways, also reflect the public's attitude toward the ruling party's performance in the past two years, Mr You said.

Some felt apathetic about the local race.

"It feels as if everyone is almost the same, from the policy standpoint," said 26-year-old Sean Tai, an employee at a hardware store.

Mr Tai declined to say who he voted for, but wants someone who will raise Taipei's profile and bring better economic prospects while keeping the status quo with China.

"We don't want to be completely sealed off. I really hope that Taiwan can be seen internationally," he said.

AP

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Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen resigns as party leader after local election loss - ABC News
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