Taiwanese citizens headed to the polls as local midterm elections commenced on Saturday, November 26, 2022.
Millions of people cast their ballots across Taiwan in a closely watched local election that will determine the strength of the island’s major political parties ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Local council and city mayors are being elected in the polls, which are held every four years.
These elections are also drawing global attention this year as Taiwan becomes a bigger geopolitical bone of contention between China and the United States.
The Chinese government regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country.
However, many Taiwanese people consider their self-ruled island with its own form of government and a democratic system, to be distinct.
This election also involves a referendum to lower the voting age to 18. Currently, only people above the age of 20 can vote.
Taiwanese citizens will be picking their mayors, city council members and other local leaders in all 13 counties and in nine cities. Polls opened at 8 a.m. (00:00GMT)
President Tsai Ing-wen also came out early on Saturday morning to cast her vote, catching many voters by surprise as her security and entourage swept through the school. She then urged people across Taiwan to cast their votes.
Tsai, who also chairs the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has spoken out many times about “opposing China and defending Taiwan” in the course of campaigning.
Campaigns purposefully focused on local issues; air pollution in the central city of Taichung, traffic issues in Taipei’s tech hub Nangang, and the island’s COVID-19 vaccine purchasing strategies, which had left the island in short supply during an outbreak last year.
Candidates spent the last week before the elections in a packed public schedule. DPP’s Chen Shih-chung marched through Taipei with a large parade filled with dancers in dinosaur suits and performers from different countries.
Chiang Wan-an, the Nationalist party’s mayoral candidate, campaigned at a hardware market, while Vivian Huang, an independent candidate, visited lunch stalls at a market. All three candidates made stops at Taipei’s famous night markets.
President Tsai Ing-wen who chairs the Democratic Progressive Party and the Nationalist’s Chair, Eric Chu handpicked candidates so the outcome of the election will impact their own standings within their party, as well as the party’s strength in the coming two years.
You Ying-lung, chair at the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation opined, “If the DPP loses many county seats, then their ability to rule will face a very strong challenge.
The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation regularly conducts public surveys on political issues.
The election results will in some ways also reflect the public’s attitude towards the ruling party’s performance in the last two years, You Ying-lung remarked.
Observers are also watching to see if outgoing Taipei Mayor, Ko Wen-je’s Taiwan People’s Party’s candidates will pick up a mayoral seat.
The 2024 presidential bid for Ko Wen-je will be affected by his party’s political performance. Ko has been campaigning with his deputy, the independent mayoral candidate Huang, for the past several weeks.
China’s Interference Has Reduced
The government has claimed, ahead of the polls, that election meddling and interference from China was less than previously recorded.
While international observers and the ruling party have attempted to link the elections to the long-term existential threat that is Taiwan’s neighbor, many local experts do not think China has a large role to play this time.
Taiwan has accused China of repeated efforts to influence voters through means such as online misinformation campaigns, military threats and even offering cheap flights to Taiwanese living in China.
But Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu disclosed that Chinese interference “was not as prevailing as [in] previous elections”.
He noted that Beijing might simply be “very busy in dealing with its own domestic problems”, referring to China’s escalating Covid cases.
READ MORE: We Will Seriously Digest The Budget On Monday- TUC
