DPP's election loss wake-up call for a change of course

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen announced her resignation as the chair of the Democratic Progressive Party late on Saturday to take responsibility for the party's defeat in Taiwan's local elections.

In the elections of mayors and major civil servants for 22 cities and counties of the island - widely deemed to be a mid-term examination of the Tsai administration since it took power in 2016, as well as a barometer for the island's election in 2020 - the DPP won the mayor's seats in six cities and counties, the Kuomintang 15, and a nonparty candidate won one. The question is: Why did the Tsai administration lose people's support so fast?

The people are unhappy that the administration has not pulled Taiwan's economy out of quasi-stagnation. The island's economic growth was 2.64 percent last year, markedly lower than the world average of 3.7 percent.