The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday announced some of its candidates for the year-end county commissioner and mayoral elections, and vowed to fully participate in the elections.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday also announced that it will collaborate with the People First Party (PFP) in nominating a candidate for the Hsinchu County commissioner's post, challenging Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) incumbent Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金).
TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) yesterday said that the party is evaluating the possibility of TSU candidates running in each district. The party may also enlist TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) to run for Keelung mayor and former TSU legislator Chien Lin Hui-chien (錢林慧君) to run for Tainan mayor.
Former TSU legislator Cheng Cheng-lung (程振隆) will run for the Yunlin County commissionership. It is unclear at this point who will run against him, as the other parties have yet to announce their candidates for the position. The post is currently unfilled. In addition, TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) will be running against Jason Hu (胡志強) for Taichung mayor. According to Chen, the final nomination list will be announced after candidates for National Assembly elections are nominated on May 14.
The TSU will work with the DPP in nominating a slate of nominees for that election.
"Basically we will still negotiate with the DPP over the nomination list out of courtesy, but the TSU will not make too many concessions to the DPP this time," Chen said. "The TSU has its own platform and I think we have a good chance in smaller counties and cities."
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will make public other nominees next Friday, Chen said.
Meanwhile, the DPP and the PFP are working together to get KMT Legislator Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) to withdraw from the KMT's primary for the Hsinchu County commissionership and defect to the DPP. Chiu is challenging fellow KMT member and Hsinchu County Commissioner Cheng Yung-chin for the position.
However, Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), a spokesperson for the DPP's information and culture department said yesterday that although the party contacted Chiu, this did not signal the beginning of cross-party cooperation between the DPP and the PFP.
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
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
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form