Chthonic vocalist Freddy Lim has been elected to government in Taipei’s 5th district in Taiwan.
The 39-year-old defeated veteran legislator Lin Fu Yang of the Kuomintang party (KMT) by more than 6000 votes.
Lim stood as a member of the New Power Party, a brand new pro-democracy party which was founded in January 2015. It emerged from the Sunflower student movement last year, advocating for universal human rights, civil and political liberties and protecting Taiwan’s independence as a sovereign state.
NPP has risen to become the third biggest party in the country according to polls – as young people reject KMT and its core policy of reunification with China.
Lim told reporters at a campaign rally on Thursday: “From my point of view, Taiwan should become a ‘normal country’ step by step.
“Taiwan will only be able to safeguard its freedom and democracy after becoming a normal country.”
Lim, who is also the chairman for the Taiwan chapter of Amnesty International, recently celebrated the band’s 20th anniversary with a Boxing Day concert in Taipei.
He told TeamRock: “There are a lot of fans worried that if I get elected I won’t be able to tour as much. I will definitely continue to tour – probably not as extensively as before, but we’re still coming out with a new album next year.
“I’m hoping it’ll be out by the end of the year. I have to get elected first and then we’ll rush to record it.”
The band have been working on an action film, which features Lamb Of God mainman Randy Blythe as a “rock star-ish Bruce Lee” character.
