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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS