2016 Kuomintang chairmanship by-election

The 2016 Kuomintang chairmanship by-election (Chinese: 2016年中國國民黨主席補選) was held on 26 March 2016 in Taiwan. This was the seventh direct election of the party leader in Kuomintang history. All registered, due-paying KMT party members were eligible to vote.

2016 Kuomintang chairmanship by-election
26 March 2016
Turnout41.61%
 
Nominee Hung Hsiu-chu Huang Min-hui
Popular vote 78,829 46,341
Percentage 56.16% 33.02%
 
Nominee Lee Hsin Apollo Chen
Popular vote 7,604 6,784
Percentage 5.42% 4.83%
  County level units won by Hung Hsiu-chu.
  County level units won by Huang Min-hui.
Chairman before election

Huang Min-hui (acting)

 Elected Chairman

Hung Hsiu-chu

History

The party leadership by-election was called after Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Chu lost the 2016 election to Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Ing-wen. Chu, who had been elected as KMT leader a year prior, subsequently resigned his post.[1] On 21 January, a day after Hung Hsiu-chu announced her candidacy, Hau Lung-pin declared his interest in the position.[2] Apollo Chen, Chung Hsiao-ping, and Lee Hsin also joined the race,[3][4] as did New Party chairman Yok Mu-ming, whom the KMT immediately declared ineligible.[5]

The registration period for the election began on 26 January. Lee Hsin became the first to complete the process.[6] Yok Mu-ming did not file his proposed candidacy, as he had been barred from doing so by the KMT the previous day.[5] Central Advisory Committee member Chou Kai-lun filed the required documentation, but did not pay the fee, nullifying his candidacy.[6] On 27 January, Apollo Chen, Chen Ming-yi, Hung Hsiu-chu, acting chair Huang Min-hui, and Lin Rong-te began registration.[7] Hau Lung-pin dropped out, and Chung Hsiao-ping was rejected because he had not yet served on the party's Central Committee.[8] On 29 January, Chen Ming-yi withdrew his candidacy.[9][10]

Election

To be considered eligible for the election itself, all candidates must have collected the signatures of three percent of the Kuomintang membership, a cutoff of 9,600 in 2016, by 21 February.[11][12] Lin Rong-te dropped out of the election on 17 February, four days before the petition deadline.[13] The four remaining candidates submitted petitions and registered for the election on 22 February.[14] On 26 February, the party confirmed that every candidate had reached the signature threshold required to validate their candidacy.[15] The election was held on 26 March 2016.[16]

Results

Hung Hsiu-chu won the election outright with 56.16% of the vote in the first round. Acting chair Huang Min-hui finished second at 33.02% while Taipei City councilor Lee Hsin and legislator Apollo Chen polled in the single digits with 5.42% and 4.83% of the vote, respectively.[17] With the electoral victory Hung became the first elected chairwoman of the party since its establishment.[18]

Turnout was 41.61% of 337,351 voters, the lowest turnout since the party began directly electing its leader in 2001.[19][17]

CandidatePartyVotes%
Hung Hsiu-chuKuomintang78,82956.48
Huang Min-huiKuomintang46,34133.21
Lee HsinKuomintang7,6045.45
Apollo ChenKuomintang6,7844.86
Total139,558100.00
Valid votes139,55899.43
Invalid/blank votes8000.57
Total votes140,358100.00
Registered voters/turnout337,35141.61

References
  1. Chen, Feng-li; Chin, Jonathan (21 January 2016). "KMT's Hung to run for chairpersonship". Taipei Times. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  2. Hsu, Stacy (22 January 2016). "Hau Lung-bin in bid for new KMT chairmanship". Taipei Times. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  3. Hsu, Stacy (26 January 2016). "Hung shrugs off reports of KMT members quitting". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  4. Hsu, Stacy (23 January 2016). "KMT youth to hear leadership hopefuls". Taipei Times. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. Hsu, Stacy (26 January 2016). "New Party's Yok not eligible for KMT chairman race". Taipei Times. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  6. Hsu, Stacy (27 January 2016). "Yok says offer to chair KMT was a bid for unity". Taipei Times. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  7. Liu, Claudia; Kuo, Chung-han (27 January 2016). "KMT acting chairperson to bid for party leadership (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  8. Hsiao, Alison (28 January 2016). "Acting chairperson in KMT race". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  9. Hsiao, Alison (30 January 2016). "KMT name change not needed: acting chair Huang". Taipei Times. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  10. Hsiao, Alison (31 January 2016). "Hung Hsiu-chu tours legislature for the last time". Taipei Times. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  11. "KMT acting chairperson to bid for leadership". China Post. Central News Agency. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  12. Hsu, Stacy (5 February 2016). "KMT chair vows reform amid criticism of review". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  13. Hsu, Stacy (18 February 2016). "KMT's chairperson vote unfair: Lee Hsin". Taipei Times. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  14. Liu, Claudia; Hsu, Elizabeth (22 February 2016). "4 candidates register to run for KMT chairmanship". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  15. Hsieh, Chia-chen; Low, Y.F. (26 February 2016). "Four qualified to run for KMT chairmanship". Central News Agency. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  16. Liu, Claudia; Liu, Kay (20 January 2016). "KMT to hold chairperson by-election March 26". Central News Agency. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  17. Liu, Claudia; Lu, Hsin-hui; Wu, Lilian (26 March 2016). "Victorious Hung Hsiu-chu vows to work for KMT's rebirth". Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  18. Liu, Claudia; Hou, Elaine (26 March 2016). "Hung Hsiu-chu elected Kuomintang's first female leader". Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  19. Hsiao, Alison (27 March 2016). "Hung elected KMT's first chairwoman". Taipei Times. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.