The legislative election resulted in none of the smaller parties winning a legislator-at-large seat, which could be harmful to Taiwan's environmental awareness, members of the Green Party Taiwan (GPT) said.
The party received a mere 0.6 percent of votes.
"Taiwan's political polarization between the two main parties squeezes out smaller parties," said former policy advisor to the president Peter Ng (
However, environmentalists and political analysts said that although amid the political mud slinging important topics like environmental protection are largely neglected, there are signs that these issues are receiving increasing public attention.
One reason for the GPT's disappointing performance was its relatively recent formation, analysts said.
metropolitan
"The GPT is a `metropolitan party' -- while its ideology is impressive, it is only supported by people in cities," Academia Sinica political scientist Lin Jih-wen (林繼文) said.
Liao Da-chi (廖達琪), a National Sun Yat-sen University political science professor, said that, "the GPT appeals mostly to young people; however that group may have low levels of voter participation."
But despite the current situation environmentalists did not think the outlook for GPT and other "small parties with a mission and passion" was bleak.
GPT secretary-general Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said the fact that many people asked for the party's campaign flyers showed that fighting climate change and saving the environment were receiving increasing attention.
starting small
"While it is true that the GPT is a `city party,' one must bear in mind that all alternative parties -- including the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -- started in cities with small groups of supporters," Ng said.
Ng said that while he was not worried by the GPT's fate, since parties took time to mature and be accepted, it was worrying that the KMT had won by such a big margin.
System reform may be necessary to remove institutional barriers for small parties to enter the legislature and widen the nation's narrow political spectrum, he said.
"The 5 percent benchmark is high for starting parties; the 60,000 people who voted for the GPT had their votes unfairly represented, unlike, say, Aboriginal voters or those in smaller counties like Kinmen, which has fewer than 30,000 voters," he said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS