Status: 27.11.2022 4:18 a.m
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of her party after losing local elections. The Democratic Progressive Party had lost a majority in many areas of the country.
The winner of the evening cheers on his fans in jeans and an elegant long-sleeved shirt. Chiang Wan-an thanks his supporters. The smart politician from the opposition, right-wing conservative Kuomintang, or KMT for short, has won a majority in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei. Chiang is said to be a great-great-grandson of the former dictator Chiang Kai-shek, who came to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war against the Chinese communists.
The KMT is considered pro-China and has maintained and even expanded its power in local elections. President Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered heavy losses.
Tsai drew the direct conclusions from this: “I have to assume all responsibility and therefore resign from the party chairmanship of the Democratic Progressive Party with immediate effect. Although the central government has been very diligent, we have to think about many things in view of such a result,” said Tsai. “We have not been able to break the current composition of local government. It shows that we still have work to do when it comes to running communities and meeting people’s expectations.”
The Democrats were only able to win over the south-west of the country, the rest of the country almost exclusively went to the opposition. Compared to the last local elections four years ago, the KMT was able to record gains, but even then it was the strongest force.
“Democracy is Taiwan’s Greatest Good”
Because of the election defeat, Taiwan’s Prime Minister Su had also offered to resign. However, the president rejected this and instead was forward-looking: “We have no time to apologize. We fell, but we will get up again. We will raise our heads and look to the future. Democracy is Taiwan’s greatest asset , which has been achieved through countless elections and the efforts of generations. In political competition there are winners and losers, but no matter who wins or loses in elections, in the end the people will always win.”
The relationship with China played no role in the local elections, instead local issues such as the economy, which has suffered badly from the pandemic, were at stake.
According to experts, the outcome of the election will not affect the presidential elections in 2024, in which incumbent Tsai Ing-wen will not stand again. It was similar last time: the Democrats lost in the regional elections, but won the presidential election by a landslide.