Candidates associated with the so-called “Capital Reform League” — whose candidacies were endorsed by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) — clinched three of Taipei’s eight constituencies in yesterday’s legislative elections.
The eight-member league consists of DPP candidates Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智); People First Party (PFP) candidate Vivian Huang (黃珊珊); New Power Party (NPP) candidate Freddy Lim (林昶佐); Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance candidate Fan Yun (范雲); and independent candidates Billy Pan (潘建志), Yang Shi-chiu (楊實秋) and Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元).
Wu seized Taipei’s first constituency, which includes Beitou District (北投) and parts of Shilin District (士林), from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) by 95,951 votes. Wu announced her victory just two hours after polls closed at 4pm, overtaking the veteran lawmaker, who served seven terms in the legislature.
Photo: CNA
Yao, the legislator in Taipei’s second constituency, which covers Datong (大同) and Shilin, was re-elected, beating New Party legislative candidate Pan Hwai-tzong (潘懷宗) by a margin of 22.86 percent, with the constituency being the only one in Taipei where the KMT did not field a candidate.
KMT candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), grandson of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and son of former KMT vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), won the third constituency, which includes Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts, against independent candidate Billy Pan (潘建志) by 89,673 votes.
Chiang Wan-an’s replacement of KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) as the party’s candidate in the constituency was described as avenging his father, who was legislator in the constituency until he lost the candidacy to Lo in the KMT primary ahead of the previous legislative elections.
Huang lost to KMT candidate Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) in the fourth constituency, which covers Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts, by a narrow 4,012 votes, which doomed the PFP’s only candidate in Taipei, although opinion polls had placed Huang ahead of Lee Yan-hsiu by as much as 15 percentage points.
Lim edged KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) by a narrow margin of 3.93 percent in one of the most closely fought races in Taipei — the fifth constituency, which covers Wanhua District (萬華) and parts of Zhongzheng District (中正) — with the two exchanging the lead several times.
Singer-turned-politician Lim was one of three NPP candidates who won legislative seats yesterday, lifting the party to third on the list of most elected legislators.
In the sixth constituency, which covers Daan District (大安), KMT Legislator Chiang Nai-hsin (蔣乃辛) warded off Fan, the Social Democratic Party chairwoman and the alliance’s only candidate who had secured DPP endorsement.
Chiang Nai-hsin was re-elected with a comfortable margin of 17,249, but Fan closed the KMT’s lead from 30.08 percent in the previous elections to 10.73 percent percent in the constiuency, where all legislative elections have been won by KMT candidates since a redrawing of Taipei’s constituencies in 2008.
In the embattled seventh constituency, which covers Xinyi District (信義) and part of Songshan, Yang lost to KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) by 4,573 votes.
Fai was one of the three KMT legislators to be re-elected in Taipei.
Lee Ching-yuan lost to KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) in the eighth constituency, which covers Wenshan District (文山) and parts of Zhongzheng, by 23,472 votes, with Lai leading throughout the race.
KMT Keelung legislative candidate Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) lost to DPP candidate Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) by a margin of 5.3 percent, with PFP candidate and veteran politician Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) trailing far behind.
Despite having served two terms as Taipei mayor and “parachuting” into the Keelung election as KMT vice chairman, Hau lost to the DPP city councilor in a race that saw the two exchange the lead in the early hours of vote-counting.
Hau resigned as party vice chairman after conceding defeat.
DPP candidate Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾), a first-time candidate, beat KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) in New Taipei City’s first legislative district, topping Wu Yu-sheng by a comfortable margin of 12.4 percent and ousting the scandal-ridden politician.
DPP candidate Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧), daughter of former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), defeated KMT Legislator Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄) in New Taipei City’s fifth constituency by 25,223 votes, marking another win by descendants of politicians.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from