Taiwan Local Elections: Opposition Kuomintang Victory... Blow to 'Independence-Promoting' Premier

On the 24th, two days before the Taiwan local elections (local time), Chang Wan-an, the Kuomintang candidate for Taipei mayor (43), waved to his supporters. Candidate Chang is the great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, the Kuomintang leader and Taiwan's first president, and the grandson of former President Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] In Taiwan's November 26 local elections, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) secured a victory. This election, held as a midterm evaluation of President Tsai Ing-wen, ended with a landslide win for the opposition, making political damage to President Tsai inevitable due to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) crushing defeat. The DPP is currently promoting Taiwan independence.

According to local broadcaster TVBS at 8 PM (local time) on the 26th, near the end of vote counting, the KMT candidates had effectively secured victories in four of the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, and Taichung.

At the same time, among the 21 counties and cities where elections were held, including special municipalities, KMT candidates were classified as effectively elected in a total of 13 locations. All declared victory on their own. The mayoral election in Chiayi City will be held separately on December 18 due to the candidate's unforeseen circumstances.

On the other hand, the ruling DPP led by President Tsai Ing-wen declared victories in four locations, including Tainan and Kaohsiung among the special municipalities. The most closely watched mayoral election in Taipei City saw KMT candidate Chiang Wan-an comfortably defeat DPP candidate Chen Shih-chung with over 40% of the vote at the same time. Candidate Chiang is the great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek, the first president of Taiwan and KMT leader, and the grandson of former president Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son.

The results of this election show little difference from the previous local elections held in November 2018. At that time, the opposition KMT also secured 15 out of 22 county and city seats, about two-thirds, while the DPP won only six.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.