2024-01-13 21:48:32
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party can defend the country’s highest office. However, she is losing her majority in parliament.
Taiwan’s newly elected President Lai Ching-te waves to his supporters in the capital Taipei on Saturday evening.
Daniel Ceng / EPA
Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has ruled Taiwan for eight years, wins the presidential election. After all ballot papers were counted, Lai received 40.1 percent of the vote. He beat challengers Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT), who received 33.5 percent, and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) with 26.5 percent.
Lai Ching-te wins Taiwan’s presidential election
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
5 586 019
Kuomintang (KMT)
4 671 021
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP)
3 690 466
Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je admitted defeat shortly after eight p.m. local time in front of a few thousand disappointed supporters each. Hou said the KMT will closely follow the work of the DPP government. Ko said he was convinced that his fledgling TPP party had established itself as a third force in Taiwanese politics, which had traditionally been dominated by the DPP and the KMT. You will be the conscience of Taiwan, said Ko, and keep fighting.
A good hour later, the victorious Lai appeared before his euphoric supporters. He was conciliatory – both internally and externally. He congratulated the other parties on their good performance in the parliamentary elections. Since his DPP has lost its previous majority, he is dependent on cooperation. Lai said he would study his opponents’ programs closely and adopt ideas from them if they were in Taiwan’s interest.
A supporter of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) celebrates the election victory of its presidential candidate Lai Ching-te.
Ann Wang / Archyde.com
Lai’s victory is also due to the fact that the opposition was unable to agree on a common candidate. In November, the KMT and the TPP announced that they would present a joint ticket. But this plan failed because the two parties could not agree on who should be president and who should be vice president. Similar to the USA, in Taiwan all power lies with the president; the office of vice president is representative. The fact that the total number of votes for Hou and Ko was significantly higher than for Lai shows the frustration of many voters after eight years of the DPP in power.
Voters are not impressed by threats from China
The KMT tried to portray the election as a “choice between war and peace”. She pointed out that relations between the mainland and the island were much more relaxed when their President Ma Ying-jeou was in power between 2008 and 2016. When DPP representative Tsai Ing-wen won the presidency, the communist leadership labeled her a separatist and broke off contact with the Taiwanese authorities.
Since then, Beijing has put Taiwan under economic pressure by banning the import of various Taiwanese agricultural products. In addition, the Chinese armed forces regularly carry out maneuvers around the island and often simulate a blockade or invasion. People’s Liberation Army planes and drones invade Taiwan’s air surveillance zone almost daily.
China regularly violates Taiwan’s air surveillance zone
Number of Chinese military aircraft and drones, per month*
The KMT blames the DPP and President Tsai Ing-wen primarily for the poor relations with the mainland. Hou presented himself as a candidate who could bring stability and peace to the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing repeatedly made clear in the weeks leading up to the election that it would prefer a KMT victory and urged Taiwan’s citizens to make the “right choice.” The fact that Lai still won shows that the Taiwanese are unimpressed by threats from Beijing. Lai made this point in his victory speech.
The future president of Taiwan spoke out in favor of maintaining the status quo in relations with the mainland. Security and stability are needed on the Taiwan Strait. To this end, he wants to seek dialogue and exchange with the government in Beijing. At the same time, he will defend Taiwan against threats from China. The Chinese government has not yet commented on the election in Taiwan, which did not go according to its wishes.
Results of the parliamentary election are still pending
In addition to the election of the president, the national parliament was also appointed. The final results are still pending. But the DPP has lost its previous absolute majority. In order to pass laws, it will have to work with the other parties.
When it came to the party vote, which is cast independently of the vote for the president, the DPP was practically on par with 36 percent and the KMT with 35 percent, while the TPP achieved a very good 22 percent. But only a quarter of the seats are determined via these lists, the rest via direct mandates.
Since the animosity between the DPP and KMT is great, the TPP will probably be able to tip the scales. Party leader Ko Wen-je did not want to commit to a coalition in advance. Depending on the proposal, we will work with one side or the other, he said at a press conference two days before the election.
Taiwan is a young but solid democracy
It is the eighth time that Taiwan’s voters have been free to choose their president. The Nationalists under General Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to Taiwan from the communists on the Chinese mainland in 1949, ruled Taiwan under martial law for 37 years. It was not until the 1980s that a democratization process began, which culminated in the first democratic presidential elections in 1996.
With his victory, Lai broke a trend: Until now, there has always been a change of power between the two major parties in the presidential palace after a maximum of eight years. For the first time, a party, the DPP, can now defend office.
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