Taiwan’s new parliament elects speaker

Han Kuo-yu, a former mayor and presidential candidate of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, was elected as speaker of the island’s new parliament on Thursday.

Taiwan’s political landscape has been dominated for decades by two parties, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the KMT.

The DPP’s Lai Ching-te won last month’s election to be president, but neither the DPP nor the KMT secured enough seats for a majority in the 113-seat legislature.

Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) came last in the presidential race, but his party won eight seats to emerge as kingmaker in the new parliament.

Legislators picked Han as speaker on Thursday with 54 votes in a second-round election, while his DPP competitor You Si-kun won 51 votes.

Speaking to reporters outside the main chamber after the vote, Han urged all parties to work together on “important economic and bread-and-butter bills.”

“I believe that most Taiwanese people look forward to a legislature that is hardworking, cooperative and united, and that is dedicated to the welfare of the people rather than power struggle.”

During the first-round vote, none of the three candidates won the majority, and the TPP’s eight members abstained after its lawmaker Huang Shan-shan failed to make it to the second round.

The vote marks a political comeback for Han, who was ousted as mayor of southern Kaohsiung city in 2020, a few months after his unsuccessful bid to challenge President Tsai Ing-wen.

Han had campaigned for closer ties with China during the presidential race against Tsai, who pledged to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty against threats from Beijing.