Following the KMT stalwart’s successful attempt to reinvent himself as a populist, Kaohsiung must now live with the consequences
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/25
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer
(Image Credit: David Spencer)
KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) — As the results of Saturday’s local elections began to be announced, Kaohsiung, a city which became a symbolic battle ground during this hugely polarized election cycle, bore witness to two extreme emotions.
At the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters on WuFu Road, there was a mixture of shock, disbelief, and despair. After their Mayoral candidate, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) took to the stage erected outside and, against a plain black background and conceded defeat to the KMTs Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), many people drifted quickly away.
Others stayed to console each other and watch on TV as their party leader, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), accepted responsibility for the defeat and resigned. In just a few hours, their world had turned upside down. After 20 years in City Hall, beginning on December 25th, Kaohsiung will no longer be a DPP city.
Many younger supporters had never experienced a lost local election before and they weren’t enjoying it. They were disconsolate and even the KMT supporters who were provocatively letting off fireworks nearby couldn’t rouse them. [FULL STORY]
