Although the DPP held primary elections in April to select its candidate for the Chiayi County commissioner's race, the party yesterday succumbed to the realities of local factional politics, and agreed to field a joint candidate.
They are its own Ho Chia-jong (
"Both Ho and Chen agree that opinion polls should be conducted by three pollsters on Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 to decide the joint candidacy," Wu Nai-jen (
"If non-KMT political forces can cooperate and integrate [into a faction], we stand a better chance of winning the election," Secretary-General to the President Yu Shyi-kun said. He said that President Chen Shui-bian (
Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Yu, however, yesterday denied that pressure from the Presidential Office and the Cabinet had been brought to bear on Ho since his candidacy should have long been guaranteed by the DPP. In response to Yu's denial, Ho said that it was a decision made by high-ranking party officials and, "I am not happy, but I am willing to accept the arrangement."
Reinforcing his confidence in winning the opinion polls, Ho told reporters that independent candidate Chen had placed a distant third in a recent opinion poll.
Pressed by the media yesterday, the DPP refused to confirm whether Chen, a former KMT member, would represent the DPP in the race if he beats Ho in the polls.
"We'll see what the poll findings are before we decide how to deal with the joint candidacy," Wu said, adding that Ho would not face any disciplinary treatment for withdrawing his sole candidacy for the party since the party's Central Standing Committee yesterday gave its go-ahead for the proposal.
Wu said the party's regulations allowed candidates to withdraw from the elections if the party's Central Executive Committee ruled not to dispute the decision.
Chen yesterday said that, if he wins the opinion polls, he might join the DPP if the party allowed him to run as its candidate. He also added that most of his supporters were actually DPP supporters and that he and Ho therefore shared a similar voter base.
A high-ranking DPP official, however, yesterday told the Taipei Times that, "Everything has been settled and the DPP's Ho is not likely to lose the candidacy," but refused to elaborate further.
Upon learning of the DPP's decision, the KMT's Wong yesterday said he suspected that a deal had been made between Ho and Chen in exchange for the joint candidacy decision, saying: "This whole poll thing is only fooling voters into believing some kind of fair arrangement will be made."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique