Tsai Ing-wen wins DPP chair

Michael Turton was first on the scene. The impeccable reporting of Loa Iok-sin, a personal friend, lays out some of the more interesting details:

Former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took nearly 60 percent of the votes in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson race yesterday to become the party's first chairwoman. About 129,000 of the party’s 250,000 eligible members voted in yesterday’s election, making the turnout 51.7 percent. Tsai triumphed with 73,892 votes, or 57.1 percent, while former senior presidential adviser, 82-year-old Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), received 48,882 votes, or 37.8 percent.

Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who dropped out of the race to throw his support behind Koo, received 6,530 votes as his withdrawal was anounced too late for his name to be erases from the ballots.

Tsai topped Koo in most constituencies except for Chiayi City, Penghu, Hualien, Chuanghua and with overseas party members....

She said that under her leadership the DPP would work more closely with civic groups and grassroots organizations.

“The DPP will protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, its democracy and insist on social justice,” she said. “I’m confident that we can restore the public’s faith in the party and the DPP will rise again....”

In addition to electing the party chairperson, DPP members also voted for directors of the party’s local chapters.

Several former legislators who were defeated in January’s legislative elections won local chapter directorships, including Taipei County director Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡), Miaoli County director Tu Wen-ching (杜文卿), Taichung County’s Kuo Chun-ming (郭俊銘), Chunghua County’s Charles Chiang (江昭儀) and Tainan County’s Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠).

Legislator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) was elected Kaohsiung County chapter director.

Sorry for the extended quotation, but most of that information seems important.

I can only say, thank God! Tsai is obviously the candidate with the broadest cross-partisan appeal, the most professional image and she is also the least likely one to say really stupid things. She's got her work cut out for her; when the next round of County Commissioner elections comes around, she'll be expected to resign if the DPP does poorly.