The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) primary for the year-end legislative elections is already over, but some former members of the disbanded New Tide Faction say the party's central leadership treated them unfairly.
The DPP's deputy secretary-general, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), said yesterday that the DPP might summon candidates who lost in the party primary to run for legislative seats in "tough electoral zones," adding that a committee with nine members would meet soon to consult hopefuls.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun endorsed the plan, saying that no one would be ruled out.
Asked how they would respond if the party leadership decided to summon them to run in "tough electoral zones" where the odds are against DPP candidates, at least four of a group of DPP members dubbed the "11 bandits" by their critics reacted with indifference or made sarcastic remarks.
Of the group, who have been vocal in criticizing their party -- all but one failed to be nominated to run for a legislative seat.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that the party should summon DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to run in a tough district because of his "high caliber, competence and consistent political correctness."
Cheng had lambasted Lin a week earlier for calling former members of the New Tide faction who were defeated in the primary "opportunists."
"If we lose, we will be blamed for not having enough voter support. And if we win, the credit will go to the party because of its successful strategy," he said.
Lin Cho-shui (林濁水), a former DPP legislator-at-large who resigned from the legislature last November over corruption allegations involving the first family, also said the DPP should summon party members who are not opportunists, adding that Lin would be an ideal choice.
Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) criticized the DPP leadership for conducting opinion polls for the primary in such a way as to exclude KMT supporters.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to