TAIPEI : Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, was
headed for a landslide victory in the local elections, which are
seen as a mid-term test for pro-independence President Chen
Shui-bian.
With 71 percent of the 12,081 polling stations completing their
vote count, the KMT had won 14 of 23 constituencies while the
ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took only six, according
to the Central Election Commission.
The remaining three seats were taken by independent candidate and
members of the People First Party and the New Party, allies of the
KMT.
At stake were mayoral seats in five cities and magistrate posts in
18 counties. Two-thirds of the island's 13 million eligible cast
their ballots.
The results, due to be announced later Saturday, are expected to be
a major morale boost for the KMT ahead of the 2008 presidential
polls. The party lost control of the country in 2000 when Chen won
the presidency.
"The election results show people are fed up and deeply
disappointed at the DPP's corruption and impotence in governing the
country," a KMT official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Of the 23 posts, the DPP previously held nine, the KMT eight, the
People First Party and New Party one each, and independents three.
One independent magistrate was jailed and replaced with a
government appointee.
KMT chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who has been tipped to
run for the presidency in 2008, had predicted victory for his
party, pledging to step down as chairman if its fails to win at
least 11 posts.
DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang also vowed to resign if his party fails
to take at least 10 seats. The ruling party's Vice President
Annette Lu earlier said she feared the opposition would do well in
the local elections.
Many pre-election opinion polls showed the DPP, which has been
weakened by a corruption scandal, lagged behind the KMT and its
allies.
Chen, re-elected last year for a final term on an anti-China
platform, has sought to shore up support for his party with more
rhetoric against Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its
territory.
Opposition parties have advocated closer ties with mainland
China.
The DPP's support base has been undermined after President Chen's
former right-hand man, Chen Che-nan, and other 17 people were
indicted in a corruption scandal involving a subway project in the
southern city of Kaohsiung.
The election campaign was also characterised by widespread
mud-slinging, and many candidates accused their opponents of buying
votes with free meals, gifts and sightseeing trips.
By Friday, prosecutors had charged 954 people with vote-buying in a
record 320 cases, said the justice ministry.
"What a relief to see the close of the campaigns," a 56-year-old
man surnamed Liu told AFP after he and his wife cast their votes in
an elementary school at Hsintien, a city outside Taipei.
"I can't figure out why candidates attacked each other with dirty
tricks rather than telling voters what they would do if they get
elected." - AFP/de