Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday strongly endorsed two women candidates for the year-end Taipei city councilor elections, hailing them as reform-minded.
At a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan, Hsiao introduced Hsu Shu-hua (
Hsiao said she was adopting the election strategy of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who presented a group of reform-minded young candidates in the House of Representatives elections last September after his plans to privatize Japan Post came up against strong opposition from some old-guard members of his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Koizuimi's LDP won a landslide victory in the lower house elections, giving him the mandate to carry out his postal reforms during the remainder of his term, Hsiao noted.
Hailing the two women candidates as a breath of fresh air, Hsiao said that presenting them at this point in time is especially significant given the low morale of the DPP.
Criticizing the candidates presented by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as inexperienced and only dedicated to continuing the political interests of their families, Hsu said at the news conference that she and Wu have significant missions.
Wu said that she and Hsu will work for the elimination of vote-buying, smear campaigns and corruption in elections.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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