Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was elected in 2016, is eligible to run for a second term. The winner of the 2020 presidential election is scheduled to be inaugurated on 20 May 2020. The 10th Legislative Yuan election will also be held concurrently.
Nominations:
Democratic Progressive Party:
Main article: 2019 Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary
Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen's re-election chances were dealt a blow 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 William Lai, 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 Xi Jinping's speech in January describing Taiwan's unification with the mainland as "inevitable".
On 18 March, William Lai 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. Tsai was duly nominated by the DPP on 13 June 2019. She and William Lai formed the DPP presidential ticket on 17 November 2019.
Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen's re-election chances were dealt a blow 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 William Lai, 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 Xi Jinping's speech in January describing Taiwan's unification with the mainland as "inevitable".
On 18 March, William Lai 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. Tsai was duly nominated by the DPP on 13 June 2019. She and William Lai formed the DPP presidential ticket on 17 November 2019.
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