Taiwan: President Tsai resigned from her party leadership

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After the party’s defeat in the local elections

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has tendered her resignation as leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, taking responsibility for its poor performance in local elections.

The largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), won the Taipei municipality, a defeat for President Tsai Ing-wen, who had linked the local elections to a standoff with Beijing.

Elections and regional elections are usually about domestic and local issues, such as dealing with Covid-19 and crime, and elected officials have no say in the island’s policy towards China.

Both the DPP and the KMT focused their election campaigns on wealthy, densely populated northern Taiwan and particularly the capital Taipei, whose outgoing mayor (who came from the small People’s Party) could not seek re-election due to the limit on the number of terms of office.

“I let everyone down,” DPP candidate Chan Shih-chung told his supporters, adding that he called his opponent, Wayne Chiang, to congratulate him.

The KMT leads or has already won 13 of the 21 municipalities and districts, compared to only 5 for the DPP.

The DPP won a landslide victory in the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, promising to stand up to China and defend Taiwan’s freedoms. The next presidential election will be held in 2024 and Tsai, after serving two terms, cannot run again.

RES-EMP

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