* Taiwan braces for hotly contested elections five days from today.
* The election will be Taiwan's eighth direct election since the martial law ended in the 1980's.
* Three candidates vie for the post of presidency.
Elections in the island country of Taiwan are in high gear as the country's president Tsai Ing-Wen prepares to step down due to term limits and her deputy Lai Ching-te is running for the post inorder to keep the Democratic Progressive Alliance in power. The incumbent's deputy vies against the Koumintang representative Hou Yo-ih which ruled the country during decades of authoritarianism and the Taiwan People's Party under its founder Ko Wen-Je. Despite the Chinese threats to annex the island which has rocked the election, the voters remain concerned about the economic issues which include low wages, housing affordability and inflation.
All the three presidential candidates have vowed to address the issues with a conduct of similar debates between the party representatives of the different parties. Corruption remains one of the biggest obstacles to tassle out by the new governments with many saying that their should often be rotation in the parties due to accusation of gross corruption without actually specifying the exact field in which money swindling is most laudent. With only five days for the people to choose their next president challenges of the impending Chinese invasion by 2049 should be kept in mind for the Chinese Xi Jinping warned of a forced reunification with Taiwan as he gave his new year address.
