Senior officials of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People's First Party (PFP) will meet today, according to reports in the Chinese-language media yesterday, triggering speculation that the parties are seeking to mend rifts caused by the KMT's vote allocation strategy in the legislative elections.
The reports said KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) would meet PFP Deputy Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生).
KMT spokesperson Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) was unable to confirm the reports yesterday, saying he had heard of such a meeting but had been unable to ascertain its existence.
The reported meeting comes on the heels of publicized rifts over the KMT's plans to allocate votes only for KMT candidates, not those of its allies.
Those stories caused consternation within the PFP, since the two parties have made their cooperative push for a pan-blue majority in the Dec. 11 elections a major point of their campaigns.
The controversy began when Lin said on Saturday that his party is in the midst of planning how to maximize the number of its candidates that will win seats.
The KMT, Lin said, would use a vote allocation system to ensure that no votes are wasted in its efforts to ensure the pan-blue alliance wins a majority of seats in the legislature.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has since used every public opportunity to hammer home the message that the pan-blues will not win a majority without his party's support and to criticize the KMT.
On Sunday in Pingtung, for example, Soong mentioned an ad run a month ago by a KMT candidate in Kaohshiung, Lee Fu-hsing (李復興). That ad had criticized Soong as being "even more fearsome than the enemy."
Soong accused the KMT of stabbing the PFP in the back by harboring "unfilial" members within its ranks.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS