Former Taipei EasyCard Corp (悠遊卡公司) chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) emerged as the winner yesterday in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary for the Taipei mayoral election later this year after defeating his main competitor, KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), by a landslide.
The eldest son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) secured more than twice as many ballots as Ting to seal his selection as the ruling party’s candidate for the Taipei mayoral contest.
The winner was decided by a total score comprised of each candidate’s showing in a telephone poll conducted on April 12 and 13 that accounted for 70 percent of the score, and the vote among party members, which made up the remaining 30 percent.
Photo: CNA
Sean Lien edged Ting in the telephone poll, gaining the support of 39.717 percent of respondents to the lawmaker’s 36.992 percent, while receiving 10,647 of the 15,758 ballots cast in the internal vote, while Ting had 4,765, according to the KMT’s Taipei branch.
A total of 37,860 KMT members were eligible to participate in yesterday’s primary poll, but voter turnout still fell short of 50 percent at 41.622 percent.
The final score put Sean Lien, who sits on the KMT’s Central Committee, first with 48.19 percent, followed by Ting’s 35.018 percent.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) were also in the race, but Tsai on Thursday bowed out at the last minute and urged his fellow party members to vote for Sean Lien instead.
In announcing his withdrawal, Tsai also disclosed the results of the telephone poll on Thursday, saying that the numbers showed he was too far behind to win, having come third with 17.5 percent, leading only Chung, who had 5.8 percent.
Ting later that day said that Tsai’s poll data were false and misleading, saying that while the candidates were allowed to dispatch observers to “audit and undertake random checks” at polling stations, the results remained confidential, so there was no way that they could get hold of the exact numbers.
Accusing Tsai of having been cooperating with the eventual winner’s camp all along by playing the role of a “foil” to Sean Lien’s “nice guy,” Ting said Tsai had been playing an unfair game from the beginning of the selection process.
After yesterday’s results were announced, Ting said that despite his defeat, he would put all his efforts toward supporting Sean Lien in the upcoming election.
Although the voting is meant to be confidential, the media accidentally saw President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ballot yesterday.
The indiscretion occurred when the president, who is also the party’s chairman, was photographed holding a ballot that, despite being folded, showed a red circle stamped on the No. 3 candidate, Ting.
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
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS