2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary
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In the 2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, the
Democratic Progressive Party The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
(DPP) of Taiwan determined its nominee for the
President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...
in the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...
. The DPP candidate for the President was selected through a series of nationwide opinion polls held from 10 June to 13 June 2019.


Background

The chance of incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen seeking for re-election was heavily crippled after the Democratic Progressive Party's devastating defeat in the 2018 local elections, where the DPP lost seven of the 13 cities and counties it previously held. The DPP’s share of the vote also fell from 56 to 39 per cent since the 2016 presidential election. Tsai resigned as the party chairwoman after the defeat. However, Tsai kept trailing behind in the polls as the surveys found most Taiwanese would not support Tsai in the 2020 election but would support
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Lai Ching-te, who also resigned from the premiership for the electoral defeat in January 2019. On 19 February 2019, Tsai Ing-wen told CNN in an interview she will run for re-election, despite facing calls from senior members of her own party to not seek re-election. Before her announcement, Tsai had received a bump in the polls after she gave a robust speech saying that her people would never relinquish their democratic freedoms, as a response to the
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
Xi Jinping's speech in January describing Taiwan's unification with the mainland as "inevitable". On 18 March, Lai Ching-te registered to run in the party's presidential primary, saying that he could shoulder the responsibility of leading Taiwan in defending itself from being annexed by China. This is the first time in history where a serious primary challenge has been mounted against a sitting president.


Candidates


Schedule

The primary was originally planned to be completed on 17 April 2019, and was postponed on 27 March for one week in name of President Tsai's one-week visit to three Pacific island countries. On 10 April, the DPP Central Executive Committee decided again to postpone the primary until after 22 May 2019. Expressing deep regret, Lai Ching-te claimed that this delay denied the value of democracy, and vowed to continue his campaign until the end of the primary. Former Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai renounced his DPP membership on 12 April to protest the party's decision to delay this primary. On 19 April, Tsai in a radio interview called on Lai to withdraw from the primary, saying things would be different, if Lai would agree to cooperate and a find solution through coordination. Lai responded by saying that he would not withdraw from the race. Amid speculation of party chairman Cho Jung-tai might resign from his post due to pressure from Tsai to cancel the primary, Lai warned the party would be very close to "evil" if it happens. On 29 May, the DPP Central Executive Committee announced that cell phone sampling would occur in the primary polling alongside landline sampling, each accounting for a 50-percent share of the polling results. The primary polling occurred between 10 June and 13 June.


Timeline


Results

Results of the primary were announced on 13 June. Tsai defeated Lai by approximately 8.6 percentage points, the result was 35.68% for Tsai and 27.48% for Lai. She was formally nominated as the Democratic Progressive Party's presidential candidate on 19 June 2019.


See also

*
2019 Kuomintang presidential primary The 2019 Kuomintang presidential primary was held after 22 May 2019 through a series of nationwide opinion polls in order to determine its nominee for the President of the Republic of China in the 2020 presidential election. Background Early cont ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary Democratic Progressive Party Primary elections in Taiwan