The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday denied the accusation made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus that the commission chose Dec. 11 as the date for the legislative elections to improve the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) chances, since the 25th anniversary for the Kaohsiung Incident is on December 10.
KMT caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (
"But Dec. 10 is the 25th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident. I do not believe this to be accidental, but this is a political maneuver," Huang said.
Huang pointed out that the DPP is planning to hold various activities on Dec. 10, and it would certainly appeal to the public with the Kaohsiung Incident, hoping to improve the turnout for the election.
"Holding the legislative elections on the day after the 25th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident will surely have an impact on the election, and we hope that the CEC will exclude all factors which can have an impact on the election," Huang said.
But the CEC denied that the commission made the decision to help the DPP with its campaign.
"We set the election on Dec. 11 because some commission members suggested we shorten the period between the election date and the inauguration date on Feb. 1, so we decided to postpone the date from the customary first Saturday in December to the second," the chief of the CEC's First Section Yu Ming-hsien (
Yu is the official in charge of the election schedule.
Yu said that there was no other reason that affected the decision, and said that while the legislative elections for the third, fourth, and fifth legislative groups was held on the first weekend of December, the election for the second legislative group was held on the third weekend of December, and there was not any fixed date for a legislative election.
"The date was decided by the commission members on May 5, when the members had a meeting," CEC Deputy Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (
Teng said that the commission will hold another meeting on July 23 and he will present the KMT caucus' opinions to the commission members for discussion.
The DPP yesterday also denied that it interferes with the CEC's decision-making process.
"Besides, Dec. 10 is International Human Rights Day. It is not a day belonging to the DPP alone," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chung Chia-pin (
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS