v2freak
01-12-2008, 04:40 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/01/12/taiwan.election/index.html
From Jonathan Lai
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, which supports closer ties with mainland China, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections Saturday in a major upset for President Chen Shui-bian.
A big Nationalist victory would provide a substantial boost for Nationalist leader Ma Ying-jeou.
1 of 2 The opposition victory is a massive blow to Chen's government, whose hard-line policies were aimed at formalizing de facto independence for Taiwan. Chen, who has been president for eight years, must step down after the presidential elections on March 22.
"This is the biggest failure since the founding of the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) and, as chairman, I should take responsibility," he said at a news conference before announcing his resignation as DPP's leader. The DPP was founded in 1986.
Frank Hsieh, the DPP candidate, will face the Nationalists' Ma Ying-jeou in the March presidential vote. Hsieh currently trails by around 20 points in opinion polls.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party garnered only 24 percent of the vote, and now hold 27 seats. Chen had hoped his party would win at least 50 seats.
The Nationalists won 72 percent of the vote to gain 86 seats, including five for smaller aligned parties in the 113-member parliament, according to the Central Election Commission.
"KMT will not abuse its power of majority," said Wu Po-hsiung, chairman of the Nationalist, or Kuomintang, Party. "Instead KMT will use it on stabilizing the society, uniting the nation and restoring the image the parliament should have."
There are 17 million Taiwanese registered to vote from a population of 23 million, and the turnout was 58.5 percent.
A major election issue was the economy, political observers said. Salaries have remained stagnant and unemployment is high in one of the world's top 20 economies, while the prices of consumer goods have soared -- at the same time as China has enjoyed an economic boom.
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Ma cleared in graft case
Talk Asia: Ma Ying-jeou interview
The Nationalists have promised to boost the economy by allowing Chinese tourists to visit the island and arranging direct flights between Taiwan and China.
If the Nationalists take the presidency, they will then be able to end years of deadlock between the nation's legislative and executive branches. Initiatives that the Nationalists have stalled in recent years have including a multibillion-dollar sale of American weapons to the island.
It could also see a thawing of the island's often frosty relationship with China, with the Nationalists not dismissing the notion of possible reunification with the mainland -- an issue of serious dispute since the unresolved civil war of the 1940s. China refuses to recognize Taiwan's de facto independence from the mainland.
Beijing's attitude towards Taiwan has also been the source of tension with Washington for several decades. E-mail to a friend
From Jonathan Lai
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, which supports closer ties with mainland China, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections Saturday in a major upset for President Chen Shui-bian.
A big Nationalist victory would provide a substantial boost for Nationalist leader Ma Ying-jeou.
1 of 2 The opposition victory is a massive blow to Chen's government, whose hard-line policies were aimed at formalizing de facto independence for Taiwan. Chen, who has been president for eight years, must step down after the presidential elections on March 22.
"This is the biggest failure since the founding of the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) and, as chairman, I should take responsibility," he said at a news conference before announcing his resignation as DPP's leader. The DPP was founded in 1986.
Frank Hsieh, the DPP candidate, will face the Nationalists' Ma Ying-jeou in the March presidential vote. Hsieh currently trails by around 20 points in opinion polls.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party garnered only 24 percent of the vote, and now hold 27 seats. Chen had hoped his party would win at least 50 seats.
The Nationalists won 72 percent of the vote to gain 86 seats, including five for smaller aligned parties in the 113-member parliament, according to the Central Election Commission.
"KMT will not abuse its power of majority," said Wu Po-hsiung, chairman of the Nationalist, or Kuomintang, Party. "Instead KMT will use it on stabilizing the society, uniting the nation and restoring the image the parliament should have."
There are 17 million Taiwanese registered to vote from a population of 23 million, and the turnout was 58.5 percent.
A major election issue was the economy, political observers said. Salaries have remained stagnant and unemployment is high in one of the world's top 20 economies, while the prices of consumer goods have soared -- at the same time as China has enjoyed an economic boom.
Don't Miss
Ma cleared in graft case
Talk Asia: Ma Ying-jeou interview
The Nationalists have promised to boost the economy by allowing Chinese tourists to visit the island and arranging direct flights between Taiwan and China.
If the Nationalists take the presidency, they will then be able to end years of deadlock between the nation's legislative and executive branches. Initiatives that the Nationalists have stalled in recent years have including a multibillion-dollar sale of American weapons to the island.
It could also see a thawing of the island's often frosty relationship with China, with the Nationalists not dismissing the notion of possible reunification with the mainland -- an issue of serious dispute since the unresolved civil war of the 1940s. China refuses to recognize Taiwan's de facto independence from the mainland.
Beijing's attitude towards Taiwan has also been the source of tension with Washington for several decades. E-mail to a friend