Taiwan president quits as party head after local election stance backfires
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday after her strategy to frame local elections as showing defiance of China's rising bellicosity failed to pay off and win public support.
The elections for mayors, county chiefs and local councillors are ostensibly about domestic issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and crime, and those elected will not have a direct say on China policy. But Tsai had recast the election as being more than a local vote, saying the world is watching how Taiwan defends its democracy amid military tensions with China, which claims the island as its territory.
The main opposition party the Kuomintang, or KMT, was leading or claimed victory in 13 of the 21 city mayor and county chief seats up for grabs, including the capital Taipei, compared to the DPP's five, broadly in line with expectations and similar to the results of the last local elections in 2018.
“I also have to take on all responsibilities, from this moment on I am stepping down as chair of the Democratic Progressive Party. Although the central government has been very diligent but facing this kind of (election) result, we have many things we have to think about deeply." Tsai told reporters at party headquarters as she quit as party head, which she also did after 2018's poor results.
Tsai said she had rejected a resignation offer from Premier Su Tseng-chang, also a senior DPP member, adding she had asked him to stay in office to ensure her policies would be properly implemented.
Both the DPP and KMT, which traditionally favours close ties with China though strongly deny being pro-Beijing, had concentrated their campaign efforts in wealthy and populous northern Taiwan, especially Taipei, whose mayor from the small Taiwan People's Party could not run again due to term limits.
The KMT has accused Tsai and the DPP of being overly confrontational with China, and of trying to besmirch the party for being "red" - a reference to the colours of the Chinese Communist Party.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the result showed that mainstream Taiwanese public opinion was for peace, stability and "a good life," and that Beijing would keep working with Taiwan's people to promote peaceful relations and to oppose Taiwan's independence and foreign interference.
The focus will now turn to the 2024 presidential and parliament election, which Tsai and the DPP won by a landslide in 2020 on a pledge to stand up to China and defend Taiwan's freedoms. Tsai is serving her second term in office and cannot stand again as president because of term limits.
