Taiwan's lackluster economy will cut into election campaign contributions and is driving joint-campaign efforts, candidates said yesterday.
A decision by five DPP legislative candidates to run together in Taipei City's southern district calling themselves the "five tigers" may be a good way of drawing attention and, of course, votes.
But the joint effort also signifies that times are tough and the sagging economy is going to cut into campaign contributions as much as it does consumer spending, candidates said.
The "five tigers" are: incumbent legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), the "big tiger" (大老虎); Taipei City councilors Lan Mei-chin (藍美津), the "beautiful tiger" (美美虎), and Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), the "powerful tiger" (威力虎); Chou Po-ya (周柏雅), the "refined tiger" (雅虎); and professor of political science Julian Kuo (郭正亮), the "bright tiger" (亮亮虎).
Holding joint campaigns is commonly used as an election strategy as candidates draw upon their collective effort to secure votes. However, Shen said yesterday the purpose was to cut costs.
"If I run my own campaign separately, the total cost will be lower [than that of joining the group]. However, the per person cost [for the group of five] should be lower yet," Shen said yesterday at a press conference.
Lan, the group's treasurer, said that so far each candidate has already submitted NT$3 million to the group's pot, making a total budget of NT$15 million for their joint campaign. The group also expects to hold two fund-raising banquets in October and November with a pledge of NT$500 per head.
Tuan said that, with the economy in a downturn, he had encountered many occasions when supporters were more unwilling to make donations than they had been in the past.
Looking back on just how dramatically things have changed, Tuan said that during the last elections he only needed to sit down with one major campaign contributor for a few minutes before the supporter handed him a red envelope and sent him on his way. This time around he sat down with the same contributor for two hours and left frustrated, with only a handshake and a few words of advice: "Do your best."
Chou and Kuo, nevertheless, said that they have each raised approximately NT$3 million a piece while the others said that they haven't started fund-raising yet.
It's not all about cutting costs, Kuo said.
Their strategy to get all five elected is based on the fact that "the DPP had obtained a total of 250,000 votes with a turnout rate of 80 percent in the district in the 1998 legislative election."
"Even if the turnout rate declines by five percent this year, the party should still be able to gain 220,000 votes. Therefore, if [the votes] are well distributed, all five of us should be able to obtain at least 40,000 votes and get elected," Kuo told reporters at the same press conference, while Shen added that 32,000 votes would be enough for each to get elected.
Shen said the group would probably ask DPP supporters to vote in accordance with their ID number so as to distribute votes evenly for each DPP candidate in Taipei's southern district.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS