One day after mayor and county commissioner elections, attention turned yesterday to next year’s special municipality elections, with Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) urging the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to begin the nomination process and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) remaining mum on whether she would stand for election.
The five municipalities holding elections next December are Taipei City, Taipei County — which will be upgraded and renamed Sinbei City (新北市) — and a merged Taichung County and City, Tainan County and City, and Kaohsiung County and City.
Chou, who early last month said he would run for the top job of Sinbei City, said yesterday the KMT should begin preparing for primaries as soon as possible, preferably after the Lunar New Year.
NO NEGOTIATIONS
Chou said the nominees should not be selected through internal party negotiations.
Chou, whose approval ratings have been consistently low according to various polls, made the remarks in response to questions about a report in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday saying the KMT planned to nominate Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) in Sinbei City.
KMT headquarters yesterday said it was not yet time to think about the primaries.
“Our first priority is to look at the nomination system,” KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said, adding that nominating the right people is half the battle.
The incumbent party in a county or city cannot count on winning, he said. Citing Taipei County as an example, he said before Chou was elected, it was long governed by the DPP, but that did not stop Chou from winning.
As the DPP could nominate former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in Sinbei City, the KMT must nominate someone who can defeat him to “secure the beachhead” for Ma ahead of 2012, Lee said.
KEY RACE
Judging from the size of Sinbei City, Lee said the “consequences will be severe” if the KMT loses it.
“The KMT cannot afford a split [in the vote], as the DPP’s support base is similar [in size] to the KMT’s,” he said.
On two legislative by-elections to be held next month and four more next year to fill vacancies left by winners in Saturday’s polls, Lee said the KMT would do its best to prevent the DPP from winning enough seats to propose a recall of the president.
Meanwhile, at a separate setting yesterday, Su and Tsai were tight-lipped about their prospects for next year’s polls.
Su said he would respect the party’s nomination and public opinion, while Tsai said “it depends on the overall mapping and planning.” Neither Su nor Tsai elaborated.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS