The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

political party 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 ...

founded in 2015. The SDP is one of Taiwan's "Third Force" () parties, a collection of parties that do not self-claim to either the

Pan-Green The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (T ...

or Pan-Blue Coalitions and tend to be rooted in social movements. In 2015, the SDP formed a coalition with the

Green Party Taiwan Green Party Taiwan is a political party in Taiwan established on 25 January 1996. Although the party is sympathetic to Taiwan nationalism and shares a number of centre-left positions with the Pan-Green Coalition, the party emphasizes campaign ...

to contest the 2016 legislative election.

Political ideology

The SDP is a

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and progressive party, calling for a reduction in

income inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...

, the protection of

labour rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influen ...

, the abolition of the death penalty and the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. The party has also called for a reform to Taiwan's electioneering process, criticising the advantage given to parties with big financial backers.

Electoral history

In the 2016 legislative election, the SDP ran in a coalition with the Green Party Taiwan, garnering 2.5% of the vote and winning no seats. In the 2018 local elections SDP candidate Miao Po-ya won a seat on the Taipei City Council. She is one of the first

openly lesbian Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

members of the municipal council.

Notes

References

{{Taiwanese political parties, state=collapsed 2015 establishments in Taiwan Political parties established in 2015 Political parties in Taiwan Taiwanese nationalist political parties Progressive parties in Taiwan Social democratic parties in Taiwan