The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday approved its legislator-at-large list of candidates as well as some district legislators amid questions over several controversial figures.
Among the 28 legislator-at-large candidates, DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) was indicted for her involvement in an alleged loan scandal at Sunny Bank (陽信商銀).
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
For his part, former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun was indicted on charges of forgery and embezzlement over allegations of misuse of his "special allowance fund" during his term as premier.
Asked whether the controversial nominees would have a negative impact on the elections, Presidential Office Secretary-General Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said yesterday that the candidates had been picked in accordance with the party's nomination process and approved by the Central Executive Committee.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Liu Chien-hsin (劉建忻) said that indictment and conviction were not the same thing and urged the public to use the same standards when judging the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates.
"KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been indicted on graft charges and a KMT candidate for legislator-at-large is still serving time in jail," Liu said, referring to KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), who is serving a 14-month prison term for violent conduct during a protest in front of the Kaohsiung District Court following the 2004 presidential election.
Yu avoided the question yesterday, saying it was not part of his plan to be a legislator-at-large and that he respected the party's selection mechanism.
Six more legislator-at-large candidates will be selected by the party's nomination committee. Among the 28 candidates already selected, 15 are women and 13 are men. The party said 12 to 15 candidates were on the "safe list."
The committee also agreed to recruit non-DPP members -- former KMT member Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮), former Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙), former TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) and independent Taipei County Councilor Chen Yong-fu (陳永福) -- to run in the legislative election.
The committee approved the nomination of Chen Hsiu-hui (
The committee also resolved to support the proposal of holding legislative and presidential elections in tandem with referendums and collecting election and referendum ballots together.
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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