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No candidates yet in race to fill Diane Lee’s seat

Following former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee’s (李慶安) resignation from her post last week, a number of individuals have expressed an interest in running in the by-election, scheduled for March 28, to find her replacement.

Lee, who is suspected of holding US citizenship in violation of the Nationality Act (國籍法), announced her decision to abandon her legislative seat on Thursday.

The by-election will be held in Taipei City’s Da-an (大安) legislative district to fill her post.

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) told reporters he had yet to decide whether to enter the race, adding he had not ruled out running in the by-election. Luo lost to Lee in the legislative election in January last year.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), an active Taipei councilor in the Da-an and Wenshan districts, said that if party headquarters appointed her to join the race, she would do her best to win.

Huang Chin-lin (黃慶林), director of the DPP’s Taipei branch, said on Thursday that his chapter would likely recommend former Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) to run in the by-election on behalf of the party.

Asked for comment, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday that “the DPP has several very good potential candidates for the race and is confident it will win.”

The party’s electoral task force would soon name a candidate, she said.

On the KMT side, city councilors Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) and Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) have so far expressed an interest in running.

On Friday, the KMT-controlled legislature voted 54 to 26 against the DPP’s motion to prioritize a proposal that the legislature relieve Lee of her seat.

Tsai Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), chairman of the Taiwan Association of University Professors, said that resignation and dismissal were legally not the same thing, adding that the pro-localization groups would launch another round of protest against Lee on Tuesday outside the legislature.

The pro-localization groups held a demonstration at the same site on Friday, but the turnout was low.
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