The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has set a goal of winning 45 to 50 seats in the new 113-member legislature, as it tries to woo independent voters in the final week of the campaign before the legislative elections on Saturday.
The new single-member district and two-vote system (
DPP officials said the party would emphasize non-political issues in the final week of the campaign to appeal to an estimated 30 percent of voters who remain undecided, highlighting the DPP's image as an advocate for the disadvantaged, native culture, systematic reform and progress and democracy.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
In Taipei City, where a total of eight seats are up for grabs in eight voting districts, incumbent Wang Shih-cheng (
In Taipei County, where 12 seats are being contested, incumbents Lin Shu-fen (
DPP candidates are neck and neck with their opponents in the other districts, DPP officials said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is expected to dominate in northern Taiwan, while the DPP should win most of its seats in the south.
In Chiayi City, pan-green forces are also split, with DPP incumbent Sandy Yen (莊和子) forced to fight off a challenge by the Taiwan Solidarity Union's Ling Tzu-chu (凌子楚) and pan-blue opponents.
In Chiayi County, normally a DPP stronghold, incumbent Chang Hua-kuan (張花冠) in the 2nd district has a slight lead over her rivals, but incumbent Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳) will need to come from behind in the 1st district to retain his seat.
The DPP is optimistic it will sweep the three seats up for grabs in Tainan County, where its candidates have held steady leads over their rivals and said incumbent William Lai (
In southernmost Pingtung County, the DPP said it stood a good chance of seizing two of the three seats available.
The elections will mark the first time the single-member district, two-vote system is used. Past legislatures were composed of multiple representatives from individual districts, with lawmakers able to win seats with as little as 5 percent of votes.
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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