President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged the public on Saturday to support a referendum that would lower the voting age from 20 to 18 and her party’s candidates running for local government posts on Nov. 26, when both the referendum and local elections will be held in conjunction.
Attending a concert in Taichung ahead of the 36th anniversary of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP’s) establishment on Sept. 28, Tsai said the passage of the referendum would bring Taiwan’s voting age in line with most other democratic countries.
Taiwan must “keep up with” the world, Tsai said, arguing that the country’s democratic system would be further consolidated by lowering the voting age.
Tsai, who concurrently serves as the DPP’s chairwoman, also called on supporters to back the party’s mayoral candidate in Taichung and magisterial candidates in Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou and Yunlin counties in central Taiwan.
DPP insiders have forecast difficult battles for the party against the major opposition Kuomintang in central Taiwan except for Miaoli, where DPP candidate Hsu Ting-chen (徐定禎) may benefit from internal strife in the KMT that has resulted in two party members vying for the same post.
Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a professor of politics at the Soochow University, said the main problem for DPP candidates in Taichung, Changhua and Nantou is their relatively low public recognition compared to their incumbent KMT opponents.
In Taichung, the DPP’s Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), currently deputy speaker of the Legislature, is challenging KMT incumbent Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), while in Changhua, DPP Legislator Huang Shiou-fang (黃秀芳) will face the KMT’s Wang Hui-mei (王惠美).
DPP also tapped former Legislator Frida Tsai (蔡培慧) and Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) to vie for the magistrate posts in Nantou and Yunlin, against the KMT’s Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) and Chang Li-shan (張麗善), respectively.
According to KMT Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷), who also heads the party’s Cultural and Communications Committee, the KMT will also hold an event on Oct. 14 in Taichung to drum up support for the party’s female mayoral and magistrate candidates
The KMT is looking to win at least three of the mayoral seats in the six largest cities — Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
In total, the party is eyeing at least 16 mayoral and magistrate seats in the 22 cities and counties up for grabs, including the six major cities.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel