The People First Party (PFP) yesterday released a list of nominees for the year-end legislative elections, while some of those who failed to secure spots on the list considered running independent campaigns at the cost of losing their membership in the party.
PFP Cultural and Publicity Department deputy director Hsieh Kong-ping (
The party nominated incumbents Sun Ta-chien (
Party authorities said concern over overlapping vote bases was the primary reason for not nominating Hsieh. Both Hsieh and Cheng are of Hakka ethnic background, and Cheng held the advantage as an incumbent. Lu was nominated to gain support from the constituency's Minnan voters, PFP officials said.
Explaining that the party had to withhold nomination from some "excellent talents" in view of limited seats, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (
Also serving as a party spokesman, Hsieh had gained much media exposure over the past four years since the party's founding in 2000 with fierce criticism of the ruling administration in his frequent appearance on TV programs.
Hsieh yesterday said he would take a few days to decide whether he would run his own campaign and lose his party membership.
PFP caucus office manager Chen Cheng-sheng (
While saying that withdrawing his PFP membership "is too much," Chen said he "would not rule out any possibilities."
Other nominees include PFP policy research chief Chang Hsien-yao (
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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