As the Hualien County commissioner by-election enters its final hours, inquiring eyes begin to fall upon Liu Chao-eh (
Given her position as the widow of the former commissioner, Liu's open endorsement of any candidate would undoubtedly have a sway on her late-husband's supporters and impact the outcome of tomorrow's election.
"All candidates are hoping that Liu will stump on their behalf; although on the surface they all being discreet about it," said Hualien County Council Vice Speaker Lin Lien-ming (
While Liu herself was not available for immediate comment, Chung Yi-wen (
"If Liu is to stump for any candidate, Wu will be the one who she will support," said Chung confidently, pointing to the fact that Chang's former campaign crew announced their support for Wu last week.
The Wu camp has also been in frequent contact with Liu and her family, Chung added.
"But given what has happened, it is unlikely that Liu will endorse any candidates," Chang said, referring to a recent rumor which said that Liu has planned to step out at the last minute to make an emotional appeal in support of the DPP's You Ying-lung's (
"The rumor hurt Liu and put her in a awkward position," Chung said. "The rumor dented the chance of Liu stumping for Wu," added Chung, saying the rumor was part of pan-blue candidate Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) campaign tactics.
In his 1997 bid for the Taipei County commissioner seat, Hsieh lost the race partly because KMT Legislator Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉), who decided to run a splinter campaign, drew votes away from him.
However, the main reason he lost -- according to the KMT's post-election evaluation -- was down to an emotional appeal by the terminally ill DPP Legislator Lu Hsiu-yi (
"Hsieh is very afraid of that happening to him again," Chung said. "[Hsieh's ] camp spread the rumor to kill the possibility of Liu stumping for anyone else."
Earlier last month, Liu had sought to succeed her late husband and announced she would run in the by-election as an independent candidate.The DPP said it would support Liu's bid.
However, Liu pulled out of the race 24 hours later, accusing the KMT and the PFP pressuring her to withdraw. Liu then also said she did not want to be involved in the by-election and political matters.
The sudden change-of-mind had thrown the DPP into disarray. It later announced that You, deputy superintendent of the Ketagalan Institute, would run as the party's candidate in the race.
Huang Hsian-tung (
"Since Liu herself has openly expressed her disinterest in the by-election and political matters, we ought to respect her will and leave her and her family along in the by-election," Huang said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS