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Newly elected independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (centre) joining hands with his relatives after winning the Taipei Mayoral elections in Taipei on Nov 29, 2014. Taiwan's premier resigned after his Beijing-friendly ruling party suffered a landslide defeat at the island's biggest-ever local elections. Historic defeat for ruling KMT in Taiwan local polls leads to Premier's resignation In a stunning indictment of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, Taiwanese voters sent its candidates packing in elections, handing five of six key cities, including the capital of Taipei, to its rivals. It is a historic defeat for the mainland-friendly KMT, and on Saturday night, Premier Jiang Yi-huah resigned to accept responsibility. Also taking the fall was KMT secretary-general Tseng Yung-chuan. Despite calls from some quarters for him to step down as party chairman as well, a grim-faced President Ma Ying-jeou made no mention of this possibility. Instead, he said at a press conference - where he bowed once in apology to supporters - that he had "heard the message from voters" and that he will be embarking on "reforms". He did not specify what these would be. In the course of a day, when 13 million people, about 70 per cent of registered voters, went to the polls, the map of Taiwan turned overwhelming green - the colour of the pro-independence coalition. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/historic-defeat-ruling-kmt-taiwan-local-polls-leads-premiers-resignation-2