TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Taiwan's Nationalist Party, or also known as the Kuomintang (KMT) Party, suffered a major blow to the country's pro-China governing party. Taiwanese Prime Minister Jiang Yi-huah resigned on Saturday, November 29, 2014, following the election of an independent candidate as the new mayor of Taipei. President Ma Ying Jeou quickly announced the cabinet reshuffle.
"I must express my apologies to the Nationalist party and its supporters for making everyone disappointed," Ma told reporters after the results were announced, according to the Associated Press. "I've received the message people have sent via these elections. It's my responsibility and I will quickly offer a party reform plan to address everyone’s demands. I won’t avoid responsibility."
Analysts saw the defeat as an increase towards the Taiwanese citizen's resentment towards Beijing. Jiang and Ma from the KMT Party are keen in deepening ties with China. "This is a very strong message, not only to the KMT administration, but also to Beijing," said Hsu Szu-chien, a Chinese political expert at the Taipei-based research institution Academia Sinica. Taiwan's distrust of China is at its highest in recent years in the wake of Beijing's hardline response to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Ko Wen-je, a 55 year-old emergency doctor who is backed by Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive party, will become the city's first non-KMT mayor in 16 years. According to Taipei's central elections commission, Wen-je won 57.1 percent of the vote, while KMT candidate Sean Lien took only managed to gather 40.8 percent.
GUARDIAN | REUTERS | XINHUA | NATALIA SANTI
