The New Power Party (NPP) is a political party in Taiwan formed in early 2015. The party emerged from the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, and advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties, as well as Taiwan independence/nationalism.[3][4][5] The party is a part of the political phenomenon known as the "Third Force" (第三勢力), in which new political parties, unaligned with traditional Pan-Green or Pan-Blue Coalitions, sought to provide an alternative in Taiwanese politics.[6] Nevertheless, the NPP's policies are very much aligned with and closely match the Pan-Green camp; thus the NPP cooperated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the 2016 elections, going as far as not to run in traditional KMT strongholds to avoid competition with the DPP.[7] The party works in tandem with a perceived generational shift towards Taiwan-centrism as the new socio-cultural norm.[8]
New Power Party 時代力量 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Claire Wang |
| Secretary | Bai Ching-feng |
| Policy-making Committee | |
| Founded | 25 January 2015 |
| Headquarters | Taipei City, Taiwan |
| Political position | Centre-left[1][2] |
| Colours | Yellow, black |
| Legislative Yuan | 0 / 113 |
| Municipal mayors | 0 / 6 |
| Magistrates/mayors | 0 / 16 |
| Councillors | 6 / 910 |
| Township/city mayors | 0 / 204 |
| Website | |
| www.newpowerparty.tw | |
| New Power Party | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 時代力量 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Power of the Era | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The party was started by Freddy Lim, lead vocalist of Taiwanese heavy metal band Chthonic,[9] veteran activist Michael Lin, human rights lawyers Lin Feng-cheng, Chiu Hsien-chih, and other prominent figures of the Sunflower Student Movement. Lim headed the party-building process, which saw the inclusion of Hung Tzu-yung, sister of the late Hung Chung-chiu, environmental lawyer Ko Shao-chen, and author-activist Neil Peng into the party. On 12 September 2015, the NPP was officially formed with the election of Huang Kuo-chang as executive leader, heading a leadership team of six deputy leaders.
The NPP won five legislative seats in the 2016 Taiwanese legislative election, three from constituency and two from party-list votes, beating out long-time third party People First Party. However, two of its legislators left the party in 2019. In the 2020 Taiwanese legislative election, NPP won three party-list seats.
Platform
editThe NPP aims to rewrite the Constitution of the Republic of China, which operates under the assumption that the Republic governs all of China (including mainland China, which the ROC has not governed since 1949), to just refer to Taiwan.[9]
The NPP supports the legalization of same-sex marriage and is generally in favor of abolition of capital punishment. The NPP also takes a more left-wing stance compared to the DPP on labor and welfare.[10]
History
editThe party was established on 25 January 2015.[11] In the 2016 Taiwanese legislative election, the first contested by the party, the NPP won five seats in the Legislative Yuan, making it the third largest party in the Ninth Legislative Yuan. Three of the candidates gained constituency seats and two were elected through the party list. Freddy Lim and Hung Tzu-yung left the NPP in August 2019, though both remained independent members of the Ninth Legislative Yuan and chose to align with the DPP. That same month, NPP legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal was suspended from the party. Kawlo, a party-list legislator, was replaced by Jang Show-ling in September 2019.
In the 2020 Taiwanese legislative election, the New Power Party won three party list seats, which elected Chen Jiau-hua, Chiu Hsien-chih, and Claire Wang as legislators of the Tenth Legislative Yuan.
The party lost all its seats in the 2024 legislative election, failing to reach the 5 percent threshold for the party-list seats.[12]
Leadership
edit| Order | Term | Executive Leader | Deputy Team Leader | Leadership Team | Assumed office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 
|
Freddy Lim | Lin Feng-cheng | Freddy Lim Neil Peng Hsu Yung-ming Lin Feng-cheng Michael Lin Huang Hsiu-chen (黃秀禎) |
25 January 2015 | 2 July 2015 |
| 2 | 
|
Huang Kuo-chang | 2 July 2015 | 25 March 2016 | |||
| 2 | Freddy Lim Ko I-chen Kawlo Iyun Pacidal Lin Feng-cheng Michael Lin |
25 March 2016 | January 2019 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | .jpg)
|
Chiu Hsien-chih | Ko I-chen | Chiu Hsien-chih
Lee Bo-yi (李柏毅) |
1 March 2019 | Freddy Lim left the party on 1 August 2019.
Chiu resigned as party chief on 12 August 2019. Hung left the party on 13 August 2019. Kawlo's party membership was revoked on 2 September 2019. |
| 4 | 
|
Hsu Yung-ming | 21 August 2019 | Sabrina Lim (林亮君) left the party on 11 November 2019.
Hsu was suspended on 1 August 2020,[15] with Chiu Hsien-chih taking over as acting party chief. | |||
| 5 |
|
Chiu Hsien-chih | 1 August 2020 (acting) [15] | Hsu resigned from the party [14] on 5 August 2020. Chiu Hsien-chih later announced the whole committee has resigned for new election.
Tseng Wen-hsueh resigned from the party [13] on 23 August 2020. | |||
| 6 | 
|
Kao Yu-ting | Claire Wang
|
29 August 2020 | Kao resigned as party chief and executive council on 17 November 2020.[16] | ||
| 7 | 
|
Chen Jiau-hua | 17 November 2020 | ||||
| 4 | Chen Jiau-hua Claire Wang |
1 March 2021 | 28 February 2023 | ||||
| 7 | 5 | 
|
Claire Wang | 1 March 2023 | |||
Secretary-General
edit- Chen Hui-min (25 January 2015 – 1 March 2019)[17][18]
- Chen Meng-hsiu (1 March 2019 – 30 August 2019)[19]
- Wu Pei-yun (30 August 2019 – 1 March 2020)[20]
- Chen Chih-ming (1 March 2020 – 29 August 2020)
- Kao Yu-ting (16 September 2020 – 17 November 2020)
- Bai Ching-feng (since 17 November 2020)
Legislative Yuan leader (caucus leader)
edit- Hsu Yung-ming (1 February 2016 – 10 September 2019)
- Huang Kuo-chang (10 September 2019 – 31 January 2020)
- Chiu Hsien-chih (since 1 February 2020 – 31 January 2024)
Election results
editLegislative elections
edit| Election | Total seats won | Total votes (party-list) | Vote share (party-list) | Change | Election leader | Status | President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 / 113
|
744,315 | 6.11% |  5 seats
|
Huang Kuo-chang | 3rd party | Tsai Ing-wen |
| 2020 | 3 / 113
|
1,098,100 | 7.75% |  2 seats
|
Hsu Yung-ming | 4th party | |
| 2024 | 0 / 113
|
353,670 | 2.57% | 3 seats
|
Claire Wang | Not represented | Lai Ching-te |
| Name | Constituency | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freddy Lim | 林昶佐 | Taipei 5 | 2016–2019[a] |
| Huang Kuo-chang | 黃國昌 | New Taipei 12 | 2016–2020 |
| Hung Tzu-yung | 洪慈庸 | Taichung 3 | 2016–2019[a] |
| Kawlo Iyun Pacidal | 高潞·以用·巴魕剌 | Proportional representation | 2016–2019[b] |
| Hsu Yung-ming | 徐永明 | Proportional representation | 2016–2020 |
| Jang Show-ling | 鄭秀玲 | Proportional representation | 2019–2020[c] |
| Chen Jiau-hua | 陳椒華 | Proportional representation | 2020–2024 |
| Chiu Hsien-chih | 邱顯智 | Proportional representation | 2020–2024 |
| Claire Wang | 王婉諭 | Proportional representation | 2020–2024 |
Local elections
edit| Election | Mayors & Magistrates |
Councils | Third-level Municipal heads |
Third-level Municipal councils |
Fourth-level Village heads |
Election Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 unified |
0 / 22
|
16 / 912
|
0 / 204
|
0 / 2,148
|
1 / 7,744
|
Huang Kuo-chang |
| 2022 unified |
0 / 22
|
6 / 910
|
0 / 204
|
1 / 2,139
|
1 / 7,748
|
Chen Jiau-hua |
The New Power Party fielded 40 candidates for city and county councils across Taiwan in the local elections of November 2018. Sixteen NPP candidates for local office won.[21]
The party nominated candidates for mayor and magisterial posts for the first time prior to the 2022 local elections.[22]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ Lansford, Tom, ed. (19 March 2019). Political Handbook of the World. Vol. 1 (2018–2019 ed.). CQ Press. p. 321. ISBN 978-1-5443-2713-6. ISSN 0193-175X.
- ^ Carin Holroyd, ed. (2020). Introducing East Asia: History, Politics, Economy and Society. Routledge. ISBN 9781317409922.
- ^ New Power Party Platform(Chinese)
- ^ "New Power Party announces leadership structure - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
- ^ Horwitz, Josh (January 18, 2016). "Taiwan's newest politicians include a rock star and an aboriginal activist". Quartz.
- ^ "Civic groups voice support for 'third force' - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
- ^ 沒有符合條件的頁面. Retrieved 2016-04-06.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Read, Graeme (April 11, 2019). "Sharp Power, Youth Power, and the New Politics in Taiwan". In Golley, Jane; Jaivin, Linda; Farrelly, Paul J; Strange, Sharon (eds.). The China Story Yearbook: Power (PDF). ANU Press. pp. 179–182. doi:10.22459/CSY.2019. ISBN 978-1-760-46280-2.
- ^ a b Laskai, Lorand (2015-11-19). "Taiwan's Newest Political Party Was Co-Founded by a Tattooed Rockstar". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
- ^ "대만 청년정당 '시대역량'을 만나다. (Meet Taiwan's youth party, the 'New Power Party'.)" (in Korean). OhmyNews. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
시대역량이 민진당에 끊임없이 진보적인 목소리를 불어넣으려고 노력하는 이유이다. 특히 시대역량은 노동·복지·경제 문제에 집중하고 있다. (The NPP is trying to infuse a constantly progressive voice into the DPP. In particular, the NPP is focusing on labor, welfare and economic issues.)
- ^ "'New Power Party' established, hoping to recruit 100,000 supporters". focustaiwan.tw. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
- ^ "No party gets majority in Legislature; KMT wins most seats". Central News Agency. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ a b "NPP legislator in west Taiwan county quits party over differences with former chairman". Taiwan News. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ a b "Hsu Yung-ming quits NPP over corruption scandal - Focus Taiwan". focustaiwan.tw (in Chinese). 6 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ a b "NPP suspends chairman over probe - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
- ^ Shan, Shelley (5 November 2020). "NPP's Kao Yu-ting outlines reasons for her resignation". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Gerber, Abraham (10 November 2015). "NPP set to nominate fewer at-large legislative candidates than expected". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ Gerber, Abraham (21 November 2015). "New Power Party finalizes candidate order". Taipei Times. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ 黃揚明 (28 February 2019). "小燈泡媽委任律師陳孟秀 任時代力量祕書長" (in Chinese). Mirror Media. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019. Alt URL
- ^ "吳佩芸任時力秘書長 徐永明喊拚8席不分區". Taiwan People News (in Chinese). 30 August 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ Cheng, Chi-feng; Liu, Chien-pang; Shih, Hsiu-chuan (25 November 2018). "Smaller parties make ground in city, county councils". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ Teng, Pei-ju (15 June 2022). "NPP nominates candidates for Keelung mayor, Pingtung magistrate races". Central News Agency. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
External links
edit
- New Power Party on Facebook (in Chinese)
- Official website (In Traditional Chinese)