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.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
RSS