Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will attend an evening rally in Kaohsiung City today to drum up support for candidates of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) in the legislative elections, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said yesterday.
Huang made the remarks as he accompanied three TSU legislative candidates to a temple to pray for victory in the January elections.
Huang said faced with the new "single-member district, two-vote system" and a streamlined legislature, which is generally considered to favor bigger parties, the TSU expected a tough battle to ensure its continued existence.
The TSU will hold four rallies around the country in the hope of "rekindling passion for the TSU," he said.
He urged the public to vote for TSU candidates for three reasons. Huang claimed the TSU is the only party in the legislature that looks after the interests of the people, that it is the party that serves as a crucial third force between the two main rival parties and that it plays a center-left role to take care of the underprivileged.
He admitted the party had recently met with figures from the private sector, including business tycoon Winston Wang (王文洋), the chairman of Grace THW Group, to exchange views on how to create a Third Society Party to solidify the "indigenous" political parties.
He said Lee, the "spiritual leader" of the TSU, has repeatedly said that the political landscape in the country should move from independence versus unification to two "indigenous" parties.
In addition to the DPP, there should be another "indigenous" party, Huang quoted Lee as saying.
Huang also said there are eight out of 73 regional constituencies in which both the DPP and the TSU have fielded candidates.
He said the two parties must coordinate and field only one candidate in these constituencies to avoid letting the KMT benefit by playing off one party against the other.
He proposed coordination between the two parties and said that if that fails, public opinion polls should have the final say on who should run.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
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