The people of Taiwan have spoken. The presidential and parliamentary elections held on Jan. 16 resulted in a landslide victory for the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with party chairwomanTsai Ing-wen being elected the first female president in Taiwan's history.
The elections also gave the DPP a solid majority in the 113-member Legislative Yuan (parliament) with 68 seats won, providing a stable political environment for the new president to lead Taiwan for the next four years. It is the first time the DPP has secured a majority in Parliament, where the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party) has traditionally held a majority, including during the last time the DPP was in power from 2000 to 2008.
The major issue in the election campaign was Taiwan's cross-strait relations with China. KMT candidate Eric Chu campaigned for closer ties with China, which he argued would promise further economic development for Taiwan.