The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is commencing preparations for December's legislative elections with a party congress meeting next week to discuss regulations for nominating candidates next month.
DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Chin-yung (
The changes mostly focus on nominations for lawmakers-at-large, who will have to pass a party primary and a popularity poll, each of which claims a 50-percent weighting.
Among the party's candidates for lawmakers-at-large, overseas and Aboriginal candidates will be nominated by the party chairman, to be later approved by the party's Central Executive Committee, because the requirements to pass a primary and a popularity poll are considered to be excessively difficult, Lee said yesterday.
The party congress will be held at the Magnolia Hotel in Taipei, and on the evening of the same day, the DPP will hold another thank-you celebration party at Chungshan No. 1 park near Chungshan Soccer Stadium.
In addition to lawmakers-at-large, nominations for constituency lawmakers, who will be decided upon based on the results of the primary and a poll on a 70 percent to 30 percent weighting, will be finalized in June, after the party holds its primary on May 23.
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is expected to renew his chairmanship of the DPP in July and, because of this, party departmental heads are expected to undergo a reshuffle by the end of June.
The DPP is also expected to hold a party congress in July to re-elect members of the Central Executive Committee and the Central Standing Committee, the latter being the DPP's highest decision-making body.
The Central Standing Committee member who wins the highest number of votes will be generally seen as the most influential person in the party and a successor to Chen.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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