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TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned Saturday from his presidency of the ruling ruling Democratic Progressive Party after suffering a major electoral setback, losing two of the country's biggest posts. in municipal elections.
The results of the polls, which take place a little over a year before the next presidential elections in Taiwan, will be closely watched in China, which claims an autonomous and proudly democratic Taiwan, and which has intensified pressure on Tsai and administration since taking office in 2016.
In the run-up to the elections, Tsai and his government repeatedly said that China was trying to influence the election results with its "political bullying" and "false information," accusations denied by Beijing.
But the PDP has lost control of the Taichung City Hall, Taiwan's second-most populous city, and the main Kaohsiung battlefield in the south of the country, which it has occupied for two decades and played a central role in the movement for democracy in Taiwan in the 1970s.
Both parties were won by the Chinese-friendly opposition, the Kuomintang, which ruled China before fleeing to Taiwan at the end of a civil war with the communists in 1949.
Tsai said the PDP would reflect on the defeat, but she vowed to continue.
"Pursuing the reforms, freedom and democracy, and protecting the sovereignty of the country are the mission that the PDP will not abandon," she told reporters.
She said she would not accept the resignation of her prime minister, William Lai, who had offered to resign earlier in the evening.
The PDP, however, held in two of its other bastions: Tainan in the south of the island and Taoyuan in the north.
"This is a tragic defeat for the PDP," Yao Chia-wen, one of the chief advisers to the president, told Reuters.
"But this is not a support of the people for the Kuomintang. This is the disappointment of the people vis-à-vis the PDP, "he said, citing slower than expected initiatives that have sparked criticism, including pension and justice reforms.
Votes are still counted in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, where outgoing mayor Ko Wen-I is independent and rivals Ting Shou-chung of the Kuomintang, and the PDP is third.
China has not reacted immediately to the election results.
HIGH OFF OUT
Taiwanese TV channels reported a high turnout, with some polling stations in parts of Taipei and Kaohsiung remaining open beyond 4:00 pm (08:00 GMT), scheduled to close vote.
The candidates traveled across the island to lobby and vote, and organized noisy and colorful rallies that became the mark of Taiwan's vibrant democracy, contrasting sharply with China, where the Communist Party tolerates no dissent .
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have increased with China, which has organized military exercises around the island and has delighted Taiwan's small number of diplomatic allies.
Tsai's internal reform initiatives, from the island's labor law pension scheme, were also scrutinized by voters.
Confidence in the government has faded in recent months after reforms overthrew the opposition and some supporters, who claimed that Mr. Tsai was kept out of the promises deficit reduction and pollution.
Tsai's challenge is underpinned by a series of public votes held Saturday on the issue of whether to legalize same-sex marriage, an issue that has deeply divided Taiwan.
"It's a small step for me but a big step for humanity," Chi Chia-wei, a gay rights activist who asked the Taiwan constitutional court to take up the issue after to have voted.
Tsai made little progress despite his campaign on a promise of marriage equality before the 2016 elections.
In its first decision in Asia, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan declared last May that same-sex couples had the right to marry legally and set a two-year deadline for legalization.
Voters will also be asked if the island is scheduled to join the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 as Taiwan, rather than "Chinese Taipei" – a name agreed upon under a compromise signed in 1981.
A vote to compete under a Taiwanese banner would further enthuse Beijing, which has never given up the use of force to bring the island under its control.
The results of the referendum votes may not be known before the early hours of Sunday morning, according to election officials.
Report by Yimou Lee and Jess Macy Yu; Additional report and writing of Ben Blanchard; Edited by Nick Macfie, Michael Perry and Hugh Lawson
