Premier Jiang Yi-huah today touted the thriving spirit of democracy among Taiwan's citizens as the "nine-in-one" election process came to a peaceful conclusion, marking the largest local government election event ever in Taiwan's history.
While inspecting the central election center in the Joint Central Government Office Building, Jiang pointed out that among the country's 23 million people, about 18 million or three-fourths of the total population were eligible to vote this time. The election was the first time since the Local Government Act was amended that all local level elections were held on the same day.
After listening to a briefing by the Central Election Commission (CEC), Jiang said the election administration tasks were particularly demanding this time. He left fruits as a token of appreciation and encouragement for staff's hard work. The premier also thanked stand-in personnel from various ministries for supporting the CEC, the police force for maintaining order at ballot counting venues, and schools around the country for their dedicated assistance with the election process.
Elections are a major part of democracy that is critical to a nation's operation, stated the premier. Therefore, the ability to conduct fair, open and just elections will decide the extent of a nation's democracy. Taiwan has accumulated years of election experience and the public has placed full trust in the electoral process. Today's elections, aside from a few irregularities, have concluded without major incidents, underscoring the rational manner in which Taiwan's electorates executed their voting rights.
Every election has its winners and losers and today is no exception, the premier said, urging all to remain humble in victory and gracious in defeat. He congratulated elected candidates in advance for the opportunity to serve the public and encouraged those who lost to accept the results rationally.
"Voting is a sacred right of the people, and ballots are how people express their views of the candidates," the premier pointed out. The premier believes this type of process will allow Taiwan's democracy to grow more mature.
The CEC said that 11,130 public functionaries will be determined for nine categories of elected office today:
Mayors of special municipalities: 6
Councilors of special municipalities: 375
Magistrates and mayors of counties and provincial cities: 16
Councilors of counties and provincial cities: 532
Township chiefs: 198
Township councilors: 2,096
Indigenous district chiefs: 6
Indigenous district councilors: 50
Village and borough chiefs: 7,851