TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang (KMT) won 13 out of the 21 city and county leadership posts in Saturday's (Nov. 26) local elections, which showed that community issues are still the top concern of Taiwanese.

“The Kuomintang insists on a middle path and rationality,” Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted KMT Chairman Eric Chu as saying.

The party’s strategy mainly centered on criticizing how the DPP government handled the COVID pandemic. The KMT was also able to detract voters from the opposition party when DPP candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) was in hot water for academic plagiarism.

Local elections in Taiwan usually concern small-town issues and challenges and have little to do with broader hot topics such as the China threat, national security, or foreign policy.

For KMT mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who won Taipei City, the victory was symbolic for the party, Nikkei reported. The KMT lost the capital to the Taiwan People’s Party, led by incumbent Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), twice and has so far been unable to find a suitable candidate to win in national elections and referendums, Nikkei said.

Chiang’s ascension to the mayorship will likely make him a presidential hopeful, but analysts see him as lacking political experience and say he will not run anytime soon, per Nikkei.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the chair of the Democratic Progressive Party, resigned from her position after only winning five cities and counties.

Tsai acknowledged that “there is still a gap between people’s expectations and our grassroot work,” according to WSJ.