|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crushing defeat for Taiwan's ruling party
By staff and wires
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's ruling party has suffered a crushing defeat in a mayoral election in the capital, but the party declared victory in a crucial race in the second-largest city, Kaohsiung. The Saturday elections were widely viewed as a confidence vote on President Chen Shui-bian, who has angered many voters with policy flip-flops and a lack of major progress in setting up talks with rival China, analysts said. In the capital, Taipei, incumbent Mayor Ma Ying-jeou won with 64 percent of the vote, while Lee Ying-yuan of the president's Democratic Progressive Party got 36 percent, according to final results. Many believe the charismatic Ma of the Nationalist Party -- the biggest opposition party -- is destined to win the presidential election in 2004 or 2008. After the vote, the Harvard-educated Ma told reporters he planned to finish his four-year term but didn't rule out a bid for the presidency. "We won't just help you build dreams. We'll help you realize the dreams," he told hundreds of supporters at his campaign headquarters. 'Motivates me'In Kaohsiung, incumbent Mayor Frank Hsieh pulled off a narrow victory, winning 50 percent. His closest opponent in the four-candidate race, Nationalist Huang Jun-ying, got 47 percent. As Hsieh's wife shed tears of joy, he hugged supporters at his campaign headquarters. In his victory speech, he said the close election would inspire him to work harder. "Although I have more pressure, it motivates me to push forward and to do a better job," he said. The president's party had been expected to lose in Taipei but was favored in its stronghold of Kaohsiung. But in recent weeks, the party became less confident as some polls favored Huang. The president is up for re-election in two years, and a poor showing by his party could energize and unify the opposition, which was in disarray when Chen pulled off his narrow upset victory in 2000. BunglingChen's approval rating has been slipping as his government has bungled banking reforms, failed to spell out an economic policy and showed little progress in starting talks with China. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and relations remain frosty. Kaohsiung voter Kang Chao-ming said he was among those who were voting against Hsieh as a way of showing their anger with the president. Kang said he was upset with the way the president recently backed away from a plan to reform insolvent agricultural credit unions. "We've lost a little faith in the administration," said Kang, who works in the financial industry. Beijing has yet to give an official response to the elections in Taiwan. The Xinhua News Agency on Saturday night carried a brief dispatch on Ma's "big victory" in Taipei, adding that Hsieh barely squeaked through in Kaohsiung. The official news agency also carried brief briographies of Ma and Hsieh, but China's media has largely refrained from covering the colorful electoral campaign on the self-ruled island Copyright 2002 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
