KMT loses key counties in local elections

Source: Global Times
[16:43 December 07 2009]
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The Kuomintang (KMT) Party won 12 county and city chief seats in Taiwan's local elections Saturday, while the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) landed four seats, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The KMT lost the magistrate job in Ilan county to the DPP and Hualien county to an independent candidate despite the ruling party's intensified rallies in the counties prior to the vote.

Although the KMT kept its large overall lead as expected, holding the opposition to four of the 17 cities and counties that voted, the ruling party was muted in its reaction.

Ma, also the KMT chief, conceded at a news conference that election results "did not measure up to ideals," Reuters reported on Saturday.

Meanwhile, DPP gained ground in the election.

"We've come off our low point," DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen said at a news confer-ence. "The meaning for the result in Ilan county is very great," according to Reuters.

The KMT should not blame the setback on its mainland-friendly policy, said Yang Lix-ian, deputy secretary-general of the National Society of Taiwan Studies, noting that the ruling party did not do a good job in explaining the wide-ranging Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement to the public, which offers opportunities for the opposition party to attack it.

Yang told the Global Times Sunday that multiple reasons lied behind the public discon-tent against the ruling party's administration.

"The KMT failed to keep some of its promises when Ma sworn in. The jobless rate remains high and the economy does not recover well," Yang said, noting that KMT's slow responses to a deadly August typhoon and the lifting of a ban on US beef imports also contributed to the discontent.

The newly elected mayors and magistrates take office or start new terms on December 20 for four years.

Elections in Taiwan's bigger cities and counties are set for next year and the next presidential race is in 2012.

The KMT won 289 county and city lawmaker seats whereas the DPP won 128. Candidates with no party affiliations and those who did not run in the election through political parties won 170 seats.

The KMT also won a majority of 121 seats in the election of township chiefs, as opposed to the DPP's 34 seats.

Global Times/Agencies