Elections yesterday to select a total of 314 city councilors in Taipei, Sinbei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung ended in a tie between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), with each winning 130 seats.
Non-partisan or independent candidates garnered 45 seats in the five city councils, while the pro-unification New Party won three seats — all in Taipei City — the People First Party (PFP), another pan-blue party, won four. The pan-green, pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) took two seats.
Overall, 2,642,846 ballots (35.34 percent) were cast for the DPP, while 2,889,210 (38.63 percent) were cast for the KMT.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The pan-green camp dominates the city council in Tainan, while the pan-blue camp controls the northern, central and southern city councils in Taipei, Sinbei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung.
Taipei City Council
For the Taipei City Council, the KMT remains the biggest party, while the pan-blue camp retains a majority, with 10 seats more than the pan-green camp.
GRAPHIC: TT
The KMT holds 31 of the 62 seats in Taipei City Council, while the DPP, which nominated 30 candidates, got 23 candidates elected. The New Party and PFP won three and two seats respectively, while the TSU took one seat. The final two seats in the Taipei City Council will be held by independents. The pan-green Constitution Promotion Union did not win any seats.
Green Party Taiwan convener Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲), who ran as a candidate for Taipai’s Songshan (松山) and Xinyi (信義) districts, failed to win a seat, obtaining only 4,984 votes (2.15 percent). Green Party Taiwan stands for environmental protection and sustainability and is neither pan-green nor pan-blue.
Sinbei City Council
Of the 66 seats in the Sinbei City Council, the KMT was the biggest party with 30 seas, while the DPP came in second at 28. The rest of the eight seats were taken by independents.
Notably, city councilor candidate Chen Hung-yuan (陳鴻源) won a seat on the city council with 20,854 votes (16.65 percent), the third-highest of all eight candidates in his district, but the lowest among all KMT candidates there. Sean Lien (連勝文), former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) son, was shot at Chen’s rally on Friday night.
Taichung City Council
The KMT won a slight victory by taking 27 of the 63 seats in the -Taichung City Council, while the DPP took 24. The pan-blue camp holds only one more seat than the pan-green camp, while independents hold 10 seats.
Tainan City Council
The DPP won a large victory by taking 27 of the 57 Tainan City Council seats, while the KMT took 13. The other 17 seats were taken by independents.
Kaohsiung City CounciL
Of the 66 Kaohsiung City Council seats, the KMT won 29 while the DPP took 28. The pan-blue camp holds two more seats than the pan-greens, while independents occupy eight seats.
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son, won 32,947 votes (16.84 percent). Winning the highest -number of votes in his district, Chen Chih-chung ran as an independent candidate in 10th electoral district of Cianjhen (前鎮) and Siaogang (小港), against four candidates nominated by the DPP, four from the KMT and six others.
Cheng Hsin-chu (鄭新助), who ran as an independent candidate in Kaohsiung as a supporter of former president Chen Shui-bian, won a seat on the council with 18,283 votes (9.66 percent).
Former KMT Kaohsiung City councilor Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭), who ran as an independent candidate, won only 10,268 votes (6.87 percent), the lowest of eight candidates in his riding, which includes Cianjin (前金), Sinsing (新興) and Lingya (苓雅) districts. Huang’s election victory in 2006 was annulled because of his holding US citizenship during his term.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department