According to Focus Taiwan, Freddy Lim, frontman of the Taiwanese metal band CHTHONIC, was elected Saturday (January 16) as a legislator in Taipei's 5th District. The singer defeated veteran legislator Lin Yu-fang of the Kuomintang by more than 6,000 votes. Famous for his long hair and tattoos, Lim was the first rock star in Eastern Asia to run for office and is standing for a brand new political party — the New Power Party (NPP) — which is leading the pro-democracy Youth movement in Taiwan. A longtime political activist, frontman Freddy Lim recently lent his public profile to several social movements. The NPP was founded in January 2015 as a brand new political party and emerged from the Sunflower student movement of the previous year, which Lim was at the forefront of. They are advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties and protecting Taiwan's independence as a sovereign state. The party's main policy is "Transitional Justice," which, lyrically, has been covered in all of CHTHONIC's studio albums. Many of the polls show that the NPP has risen up to the third biggest party in Taiwan as young people reject the ruling KMT party which lists reunification with mainland China among its core policies. "From my point of view, Taiwan should become a 'normal country' step by step," Lim told reporters after a campaign rally on Thursday. "Taiwan will only be able to safeguard its freedom and democracy after becoming a normal country."
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