DPP still discussing choices to serve as interim mayor before new electionTaiwan News
Date: 2020/06/10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) told Kuomintang (KMT) party leaders Wednesday (June 10) that his defeat in last week’s recall vote was not their fault but the result of Kaohsiung residents' dissatisfaction with him and his city government team.

While the threshold for last Saturday’s (June 6) vote stood at 25 percent of eligible voters in the southern city, a total of 42 percent cast their ballot, and about 97 percent of those approved of the recall. Han will have to leave office on June 12 and will be unable to run for mayor again for four years. The central government still has to decide on an interim mayor and a date for the new mayoral election.

The KMT moved its weekly Central Standing Committee meeting from Taipei to Kaohsiung Wednesday with Han as its main speaker. He said reports that the party leadership had failed to help him were not true, as they had frequently visited the city and given him valuable advice, CNA reported.

Han described his defeat as a judgment passed on his team by voters, not as a verdict on the KMT or its new leadership, which took over after Han lost the Jan. 11 presidential election by a wide margin.    [FULL  STORY]