Only two days after the People First Party (PFP) tried to boost its electoral prospects by nominating its chairman as a candidate for legislator-at-large, scandal threatened to envelop the party yesterday when former Miaoli County legislator Robert Hsu (
The PFP finalized its slate of nominees for legislator-at-large last Saturday, listing 26 candidates with Hsu at number 11. Hsu then turned down the nomination which he evidently got for free in the end anyway.
On Tuesday, the party nominated James Soong (
Hsu yesterday said Soong had said in July that the party would nominate Hsu as one of the legislator-at-large candidates. Hsu said that, just after Soong made this promise, the party's Secretary General David Chung (
Chung denied Hsu's accusation but conceded that he had met Hsu "for a chat" at the end of September. Chung said that it was natural for him to meet regularly with party members, and that all he had discussed with Hsu was prospects in Miaoli County for the elections but that money had not been mentioned at all. Hsu used to represent Miaoli County in the Legislative Yuan.
In a bid to prevent the incident from casting a dark cloud over the party's election campaign, Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉), the PFP's spokesman, sought to clarify matters at a press conference yesterday.
"To the party, donations and the party's rankings of legislator-at-large nominations have nothing to do with each other. The party was seeking donations from Hsu, but that doesn't mean that his donation was a condition of his nomination. We hope that Hsu can understand the realities," Hsieh said.
Hsieh added that the party appreciates what Hsu had done for the party and hopes he can rejoin the party soon.
Hsu is not the only PFP figure displeased about the party's legislator-at-large nominations. Shaw Chong-hai (邵宗海) a former aide to Soong, resigned from the party after failing to win a nomination. Wang Tien-ching(王天競), a sitting PFP legislator who had been considered by some as likely to be nominated also failed to do so. On Sunday he officially registered as an independent legislative candidate.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
RSS