The conviction of patriarch Yen Ching-piao for corruption and firearms offences was not enough to force his influential family out of power in their base of Taichung, Taiwan’s third-biggest city.
But his son, who took over his father’s legislative seat after a by-election prompted by his jailing in 2013, fears that the popularity of opposition presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen could push him out of office in this key battleground for Saturday’s election.
“Now it’s obvious that Ms Tsai will win, so her legislative candidate has a better advantage here,” says Yen Kuan-hen, who, like his father, is running as an independent but supports the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist party.