New | Low turnout at anti-nuclear rally as Taiwan banks on new leader Tsai Ing-wen’s vow to abolish atomic energy use by 2025

An annual anti-nuclear rally in Taiwan on Saturday saw a much lower turnout than previous years as president-elect Tsai Ing-wen vowed to abolish the use of atomic energy on the island by 2025.

Hundreds of people gathered outside Taipei’s Presidential Palace in the rain, many wearing yellow ribbons and stickers bearing the slogans “Say goodbye to nuclear” and “Nuclear go zero”.

READ MORE: Thousands rally for end to nuclear power in Taiwan

But the crowd was noticeably smaller than the thousands who joined last year’s protest.

Organisers chalked up the demonstration’s small showing to the Democratic Progressive Party’s victory at the polls in January. The DPP has promised, along with a slew of new political parties set to enter parliament, to phase out the use of nuclear energy.

“Whether it’s the DPP or the New Power Party, those that agree with creating a nuclear-free home have become the majority [in parliament],” Shu-Hsin Tsui, secretary general of Green Citizens’ Action Alliance, said.

Tsai, who will take office in May, on Saturday reiterated her party’s plan to make Taiwan nuclear-free within a decade.

“To accomplish this goal, in addition to promoting energy efficiency we need to more importantly adjust the energy mix,” the president-elect wrote in a post on Facebook.