The degree of cooperation between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) will face a test beginning today, as the DPP plans to hold a survey on its prospective candidates for the Keelung mayoral elections.
If the winner's support rate in the poll is higher than that of the TSU's nominee, the DPP will nominate a candidate, rather than giving the nomination to its ally.
The election has already produced some infighting within the pan-green camp, after National Policy Adviser Huang Hua (
DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) admitted that Huang's defection to the TSU complicated the DPP's arrangements in Keelung, where the party originally planned to "enlist" one nominee, rather than holding a primary or just giving up the position to the TSU.
Huang asserted that the DPP's cancelation of the primary was designed to help People First Party (PFP) Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (
"Huang's initiation into the TSU surprised us and drove us to reconsider the overall arrangement in Keelung City," Cheng said, while denying Huang's conjecture.
Before yesterday, in reaction to Huang's big gesture, Cheng Wen-tsan said that DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Meanwhile, Cheng did not deny that if the DPP decides to nominate its own candidate, a problem for cooperation between the two pan-green camp parties is likely.
"No one wants to give up this mayoral election, after all," Cheng said. "The party who surrenders the year-end election virtually gives up the next legislative election in 2007, which will be an unprecedented competition because of the new electoral system."
Taipei on Thursday held urban resilience air raid drills, with residents in one of the exercises’ three “key verification zones” reporting little to no difference compared with previous years, despite government pledges of stricter enforcement. Formerly known as the Wanan exercise, the air raid drills, which concluded yesterday, are now part of the “Urban Resilience Exercise,” which also incorporates the Minan disaster prevention and rescue exercise. In Taipei, the designated key verification zones — where the government said more stringent measures would be enforced — were Songshan (松山), Zhongshan (中山) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts. Air raid sirens sounded at 1:30pm, signaling the
The number of people who reported a same-sex spouse on their income tax increased 1.5-fold from 2020 to 2023, while the overall proportion of taxpayers reporting a spouse decreased by 4.4 percent from 2014 to 2023, Ministry of Finance data showed yesterday. The number of people reporting a spouse on their income tax trended upward from 2014 to 2019, the Department of Statistics said. However, the number decreased in 2020 and 2021, likely due to a drop in marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic and the income of some households falling below the taxable threshold, it said. The number of spousal tax filings rebounded
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS