The candidate for president of of the ruler (PDP), William Lai (), leads the count with 41.5% of the votes and more than half of the tables counted, according to data from the Central Electoral Commission (CEC).

With a count of 63% of the votes, the current vice president of the island prevails over the opposition candidates of the Kuomintang (KMT), Hou Yu-ihwhich has 33.15% of the votes, and Taiwan People’s Party (PPT), Ko Wen-jewhich has 25.33%.

LOOK HERE: Elections in Taiwan: voting centers open for presidential and legislative elections

At the moment none of the candidates have publicly expressed themselves about these results, which are in line with the surveys published until January 2.

If this trend is confirmed, it would be the first time since the first democratic elections in 1996 that the same party remains in government for three consecutive terms.

The current president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen (PDP), has held the highest office of the island since 2016, but could not run for a third term due to constitutional limitations.

More than 19.5 million Taiwanese were called to the polls to elect their new president, in a context marked by the worsening of tensions with China.

MORE INFORMATION: Thousands of Taiwanese attend final campaign rallies before presidential election

The PDP candidate, who defined himself in the past as a “pragmatic worker for independence Taiwan”, has presented these elections as a struggle between “democracy” and “autocracy“, while the KMT candidate has reiterated that only a victory for the opposition, more inclined to dialogue with Beijingcould avoid a “war” with China.

Beijing, which considers the island ruled autonomously since 1949 a rebel province, has harshly criticized the PDP candidate in recent weeks, accusing him of “separatist” and of “lack moral integrity”.

During this day, the Taiwanese also voted to renew the 113 seats that make up the Legislative Yuan (Parliament), whose new configuration will be known during the night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Agencia EFE is a Spanish international news agency that distributes information to more than two thousand media outlets around the world in the written press, radio, television and internet. It has a network with more than three thousand journalists of 60 nationalities. It operates 24 hours a day from at least 180 cities in 110 countries.



Source