Speculation mounted yesterday on possible tensions between the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) two 2008 presidential hopefuls over the party's plan to change its nomination system for at-large legislators.
Under the KMT's nomination system, the list of legislator-at-large nominees is decided by a nine-seat committee appointed by the party chairman. The committee's nominees must receive a vote of confidence from the party's 210-seat Central Committee.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday confirmed media reports that the party has been considering a change to this system ahead of next year's legislative elections.
"We are planning to have the legislator-at-large nominees selected by the party's local representatives, which is a more democratic method than the current one," Ma said.
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that the changes were directed at Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who secured the first nomination for a KMT at-large legislative seat.
But Wang played down the report, saying that such talk aimed to damage relations between the two party bigwigs.
"I don't think that the changes are directed at me. But if they are, I wouldn't be the only one they are directed at," Wang said yesterday when asked to comment on the changes.
Wang, touted as a possible presidential candidate for 2008, added that he had many options besides another campaign for a legislative seat.
"As party chairman, of course I would like to choose the legislator-at-large nominees myself. But since that is not democratic, we have to have a new system that allows more people to participate in the nomination," Ma said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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