Taiwan opposition party gains majority

TAIPEI, Taiwan – The opposition Nationalist party scored an overwhelming victory in Taiwan’s legislative elections Saturday in a repudiation of President Chen Shui-bian’s confrontational drive to push this self-ruled island along the road toward formal independence.

The Nationalist party won 81 seats in the 113-member Legislative Yuan, and its independent allies won another five, according to results announced by the Central Electoral Commission. Chen’s Democratic Progressive Party won only 27. That amounted to a two-thirds working majority for the Nationalists, giving them power to dominate the legislature.

The vote demonstrated broad disenchantment among Taiwan’s 23 million inhabitants over the combative pro-independence campaign that has been the centerpiece of Chen’s two four-year terms as president. Chen, 56, a lifelong activist for Taiwanese nationalism, also has been stained by corruption investigations that have resulted in the jailing of his son-in-law for insider trading and the prosecution of his wife on embezzlement allegations.

Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist candidate for president, expressed hope that his party’s legislative triumph heralded an enduring political shift that would propel him to victory in the March 22 presidential election.

“The people of Taiwan are up for a change,” he declared. “They want not only a change of people but also a change of policies.”

Voters were fed up with Chen’s pugnacious style, which also has irritated the Bush administration, and his party’s relentless emphasis on independence at the expense of measures to stimulate economic growth, Ma said.

“The Democratic Progressive Party has gone too far,” added George Tsai, a professor and political analyst at Chinese Culture University.

Chen, who also was party chairman, resigned that post Saturday evening as the scope of the loss became clear, saying he felt “shame” over the results of his leadership.