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Lawrence Chung

Taiwanese went to the polls on Saturday for what was billed as the island’s biggest-yet local elections, the outcomes of which are seen as crucial to the 2016 presidential poll.
Balloting started at 8am with voters queuing peacefully outside 16,000 polling stations across the island to elect 11,130 holders of nine types of public offices.
President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, went to vote in the morning, drawing a huge crowd of media and supporters.
Asked if he was confident about the Kuomintang’s chances in the local elections, Ma offered only a smile before hurrying away.
In the central city of Changhua, Dr Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, appeared upbeat when she accompanied a DPP candidate to go to vote. “I hope all DPP candidates will do well in the elections,” she said.

Both Ma and Tsai have spent a lot of time on the hustings for their candidates in the past two months, hoping to retain or increase their control of 22 cities and counties. The KMT holds 15 cities and counties, including the four big municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan in northern Taiwan and Taichung on the central part of the island.
Hit hard by a series of food scandals and amid growing public disappointment with the Ma government, the ruling party faced a tough challenge from the DPP.
The DPP, which controls the southern municipalities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, set its sights on winning Taichung, which analysts said could allow the pro-independence party to expand its influence from central Taiwan to the island’s north, boosting its chances in 2016.
Tsai focused her campaign efforts on Taichung and its nearby Changhua and Nantou  counties, asking voters to “turn around central Taiwan” to “punish the Ma government for its poor performance”.
The DPP’s candidate for Taichung, Lin Chia-lung, 50, urged his KMT opponent, Jason Hu Chih-chiang, 66, who was running for a fourth term, to hand over power to a younger generation, a campaign message that seemed to hit a chord in the city.
“The old mayor has been there for too long and it is difficult for him to bring about changes to the city,” 21-year-old university student Dawoo Huang, a first-time voter, said of Hu.
“I hope a new mayor will improve infrastructure, transport and resource allocation in Taichung.”
But housewife Sheu Li-chuan, 54, said Hu had done a lot to improve the municipality. “The incumbent mayor has done a good job developing infrastructure and built the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House,” Sheu said.
In Taipei, another closely watched constituency with two political novices fighting for the mayoral post, Sean Lien Sheng-wen, son of KMT honorary chairman Lien Chan, appealed to voters to turn out.
“It is a sunny day – a good day for voters to go to vote,” he said after casting his ballot.
Lien was fighting an uphill battle against surgeon Dr Ko Wen-je, whose campaign pledge to bridge the long-time DPP-KMT political divide and share power with the public was so successful that he had held a comfortable lead in opinion polls from the start of campaigning in September.
Observers and KMT officials said Lien would stand a good chance if voter turnout was high. The KMT’s traditional level of support has been about 60 per cent in Taipei but Taiwanese media said many KMT supporters were fed up with the Ma administration and reluctant to vote.
Vote counting started at 4pm and the Central Election Commission expected up to 70 per cent of the 18.5 million eligible voters to turn out, with results expected by about 11pm.
 


Taiwanese head to polls in island-wide elections

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou casts his ballots in the local elections including Taipei mayor in Taipei. Photo: AP

Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, casts her vote for local elections at a polling station in New Taipei City. Photo: EPA

Taiwan goes to the polls for 'biggest-ever' local elections

Sean Lien, the KMT’s candidate for mayor in Taipei, waves to supporters in the island’s capital. Photo: CNA

The DPP’s Lin Tsung-hsien campaigns in Yilan, where he is seeking re-election as county chief. Photo: CNA

Sean Lien Sheng-wen (left), the KMT's Taipei mayoral candidate, campaigns at a market. The DPP's Chiayi mayoral candidate Twu Shiing-jer and party chairwoman Dr Tsai Ing-wen do likewise.Photos: Reuters, SCMP

Frontrunners in race to be municipal mayors

A Nationalist Party supporter waves a Taiwan flag and a banner in support of one of the Taipei mayoral candidates, KMT's  Sean Lien, during an campaign rally last weekend. Photo: Reuters


A Nationalist Party supporter waves a Taiwan flag and a flag in support of one of the Taipei mayoral candidates, KMT's Sean Lien, during an election rally last weekend. Photo: Reuters

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China

High voter turnout expected as KMT, the main opposition DPP and other parties battle for more than 11,000 seats, including mayor of Taipei and Taichung


Taiwanese head to polls in island-wide elections

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}High voter turnout expected as KMT, the main opposition DPP and other parties battle for more than 11,000 seats, including mayor of Taipei and Taichung

High voter turnout expected as KMT, the main opposition DPP and other parties battle for more than 11,000 seats, including mayor of Taipei and Taichung