Bitter defeat for Tsai Ing-wen

By
David Demes

On Saturday evening, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen stepped in front of the press at the headquarters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei and took political responsibility for her party’s defeat. In the so-called 9-in-1 (九合一選舉) elections, citizens voted for 21 mayoral, county council and some 11,000 local council positions. But the local elections also show how satisfied the population is with the government – a bit like the midterms in the United States. “The results have not met our expectations,” Tsai acknowledged, declaring her immediate resignation from the post of party leader. She had rejected a resignation request from her government chief Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌). KMT candidates won a majority of votes in 13 of the 21 counties and cities – Tsai’s DPP, by contrast, only in five.