Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday emerged as the only candidate qualified to run in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary after obtaining the necessary number of signatures from KMT members.
A screening committee announced that Hung had obtained 35,210 valid endorsements from registered members, surpassing the 15,000 threshold.
Former Department of Health minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良), the only other person to file registration papers, obtained only 5,234 valid signatures, failing to meet the requirement, the committee said.
Photo: CNA
Hung had submitted more than 60,000 signatures and Yaung more than 30,000, but many of them were disqualified for various reasons, the committee said.
According to the KMT’s primary regulations, Hung must next face a public opinion poll, and would be required to garner the support of at least 30 percent of respondents.
The KMT has yet to decide how to conduct the poll, but one of the likely options is to ask respondents to choose between Hung and Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Should Hung fall short of the 30 percent threshold, the party might opt to draft another candidate to run.
While KMT Nomination and Review Committee convener Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the method and timing of the poll required further discussion, Hung urged the party to hurry, as the earlier the KMT knows in which direction it is heading, the more time it has to prepare its candidate.
Hung said that she believed she would ultimately be the party’s choice, adding that she would “take the responsibility, work hard and win [the election.]”
Meanwhile, Yaung announced that he was dropping his bid.
He said he wished Hung the best and hoped she exceeded the 30 percent threshold, adding that he would not consider running for a legislator or legislator-at-large post in the January elections.
In response to concern that the KMT would lack a strong vice presidential candidate, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that the party’s core interests were the same as Yaung’s — “distributive justice” — adding that the party’s nomination would adhere to its internal policies.
The only KMT members who appear to be somewhat competitive with Tsai in opinion polls — Chu and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) — have said they would not enter the presidential race.
The KMT is the underdog heading into the January elections, hurt by its disastrous showing in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29 last year and the dismal approval ratings for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, which have dropped to about 20 percent.
Additional reporting by Lee Ya-wen and Chiu Yen-ling
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS