The Year of the Monkey? You could also call 2016 the year of the ballot. Voters across the Asia-Pacific region will be heading to the polls. Will the results make the regional economy more resilient to global ups and downs? Will they enhance peace and stability? When citizens cast their ballots, they will be deciding much more than the nature of their own governments.
Taiwan will kick off the election procession on Jan. 16. Tsai Ing-wen, head of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, is considered a shoo-in to become president, in light of her huge lead in the polls. The Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, of President Ma Ying-jeou has been in power for eight years, and the public appears fed up with its economic policy.
