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 Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
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Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
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