The 2006 Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship by-election was held on January 15, 2006 in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It was the tenth chairmanship election conducted by the party. In December 2005, chairperson

Su Tseng-chang Hope Su Tseng-chang (; born 28 July 1947) is a Taiwanese politician serving as premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2019, and previously from 2006 to 2007. He was the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005 and from 2012 ...

resigned as a result of failing to win ten of the twenty-three positions in the 2005 local elections.

Candidates

There were many hopefuls that publicly expressed their desire for the chairmanship. These politicians withdrew after acting chairperson

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...

withdrew her campaign. Only three candidates formally announced their bids for chairperson: *

Chai Trong-rong Chai Trong-rong (; June 13, 1935 – January 11, 2014), sometimes known in English as Trong Chai, was a Taiwanese politician. Born in Japanese-era Taiwan, Chai earned his master's and doctorate degrees in the United States. He was a pro-democ ...

, former president of the WUFI, former legislator, and former chairperson of

Formosa Television Formosa Television () is a television station based in New Taipei, Taiwan. Established on March 27, 1996, FTV began broadcasting on June 11, 1997. Formosa Television is also the first free-to-air television station which was established witho ...

, was the first to register candidacy.Chiu Yu-Tzu
DDP chairmanship race slowly beginning to heat up
', Taipei Times, 12/10/2005'' He was supported by the Welfare State Alliance, which was led by

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung Cit ...

, along with foreign minister Mark Chen and vice president

.Huang, Jewel
"Power struggle heating up in election for DPP chair"
',

Taipei Times The ''Taipei Times'' is the only printed daily English-language newspaper in Taiwan, and the third established there. Online competitors include the state-owned '' Focus Taiwan'' and '' Taiwan News''; '' The China Post'' was formerly a compet ...

, 12/28/2005'' *

Yu Shyi-kun You Si-kun (; born 25 April 1948), also romanized Yu Shyi-kun, is a Taiwanese politician serving as a member and the president of the Legislative Yuan. He was one of the founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and is know ...

, former Presidential Office secretary-general, former magistrate of Yilan County, and former premier, officially launched his campaign on December 18. He was endorsed by the Justice Alliance, which included President

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...

. *

Wong Chin-chu Wong Chin-chu (; born 31 January 1947) is a Taiwanese educator and politician. She was a member of the Legislative Yuan from 1993 to 2001. Wong stepped down in the midst of her third term, as she was elected magistrate of Changhua County later t ...

, former legislator and former magistrate of

Changhua County Changhua County ( Mandarin Pinyin: ''Zhānghuà Xiàn''; Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴ Hsien⁴''; Hokkien POJ: ''Chiang-hòa-koān'' or ''Chiong-hòa-koān'') is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth small ...

, was the last to register. Wong Chin-chu, who left the New Tide faction, was not supported by any of the factions, but was endorsed by former chairperson

Lin Yi-hsiung Lin Yi-hsiung (; born 24 August 1941) is a politician from Taiwan. He was a major leader of the democratization movement in Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Law of National Taiwan University. He was first exposed to politics in 1976 ...

Results

Yu won the race with over 54% of the votes. However, the

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...

was only 19.96%,YU SHYI-KUN WINS DPP CHAIR ELECTION
'', DPP official English site, 1/16/2006'' the lowest turnout in the party's history. This was significantly different from the 2005 Kuomintang election, which had a voter turnout of 50.17%. It is commonly believed that Yu's successful campaign symbolized the fact that President

's Justice Alliance was still in power within the party. After

, also a member of the Justice Alliance, was appointed the premier, his term was relatively more stable as a result of the mutual cooperation between the three leaders. On the other hand, former chairperson

left the party as a result of the loss of Wong Chin-chu.

References

{{Democratic Progressive Party Chairmanship Elections 2006 elections in Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship elections Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship election

Candidates

Results

See also

References