The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that a majority of the public do not support a plan by pan-blue local government officials' to defy the Central Election Commission's (CEC) decision to distribute election and referendum ballots simultaneously in January's legislative elections.
A poll released by the DPP yesterday showed that nearly 48 percent of respondents said they considered the move inappropriate, while about 30 percent said they found it acceptable. About 20 percent of respondents said they did not have any preference.
The survey was conducted by the DPP's Poll Center on Monday and Tuesday.
PHOTO: CNA
The DPP's Central Standing Committee said at a meeting yesterday that the administration must boost its public relations campaign at district election commissions to advertise "one-step voting," meaning that ballots be handed out together.
Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), director of the party's Culture and Information Department, urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to listen to public opinion, adding that the "two-step voting" system that it favored would be more costly.
The CEC ruled last Friday that voters would receive their legislative ballot and two referendum ballots together at the entrance to voting stations. The pan-green and pan-blue camps have accused each other of trying to manipulate election and referendum results.
Eighteen pan-blue local governments have signed a statement pledging to exercise their authority according to the Local Government Act (地方自治法) and handle the elections their own way.
The Cabinet has said that heads of local governments would be held responsible if their administrations did not comply with the CEC ruling, adding that frontline election personnel were also subject to punishment as laid out in the Civil Servants Work Act (
Meanwhile, the committee yesterday agreed to form an anti-vote buying task force headed by Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) to expose suspected vote-buying activities.
Meanwhile, former DPP legislator Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) introduced his campaign team yesterday ahead of the inauguration of his campaign headquarters on Saturday.
Luo will be running as a legislative candidate for Taipei's Da-an District (
Former minister of health Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), a DPP legislator--at-large candidate who heads the volunteer department for Luo's campaign, asked supporters to divert their sympathy for him to Luo.
Twu was wrongfully accused by Lee and restaurant proprietor Cheng Ko-jung (
The Taiwan High Court ordered the pair to pay Twu NT$1 million (US$30,000) as compensation for damaging Twu's reputation.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai