KMT-backed candidates win 5 of 6 by-elections

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) Candidates belonging to or supported by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) won five of six by-elections held across Taiwan on Saturday, in what the party touted as a pre-inauguration rebuke of President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

The special elections were held to fill vacant political offices across the country, including the mayorship of Miaoli City, township chief positions in Taitung's Dawu Township, as well as Yunlin's Huwei and Mailiao townships, the 4th district seat in Yilan's county council and the 15th district seat on Taichung's city council.

Of those, KMT candidates scored victories in Miaoli, Taitung and Taichung, while independent candidates supported by the KMT won in Yilan and Yunlin's Huwei Township.

In the remaining race, in Yunlin's Mailiao Township, DPP member Hsu Chung-fu (

) sailed to an easy victory running as an independent.

Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄), chair of the KMT's Organizational Development Committee, said the results served as a reminder to Lai ahead of his May 20 inauguration that "the public's dissatisfaction with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is ongoing."

Specifically, Hsu slammed Lai for "disappointing" Cabinet selections that suggest a lack of interest in working across the aisle, and warned that the president-elect must "change course" and modestly "face up to the new public opinion."

Meanwhile, DPP spokesman Wu Cheng (吳崢) said a variety of factors, including low turnout, were behind the party's losses on Saturday.

Wu said that moving forward, the DPP remains committed to developing talent and deepening its connections at the local level, as it works to regain the public's trust ahead of Taiwan's 2026 local elections.