Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City councilors yesterday announced that they would run in the party’s primary election next month to represent the party in the by-election for former KMT legislator Diane Lee’s (李慶安) seat.
KMT Taipei City councilors in the Da-an (大安) and Wenshan (文山) election districts, Lin Yi-hua (林奕華), Chin Li-fang (秦儷舫) and Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), held press conferences separately yesterday to announce their decision to register for the primary, which is scheduled for Feb. 8.
The schedule for the KMT primary states that interested members should register with the party between today and Sunday. The party will conduct opinion polls on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, and hold a vote on Feb. 8. The final result will be determined by a combination of the polls and the vote, with the poll results accounting for 70 percent and the vote accounting for 30 percent.
While the voting district has traditionally been a pan-blue stronghold, Lee Ching-yuan urged the party and supporters not to ignore growing dissatisfaction with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
“Thinking that the KMT will win the by-election without even trying is very dangerous. We can’t afford to lose the by-election out of arrogance,” he said at Taipei City Hall.
The KMT’s Taipei City Council caucus, on the other hand, recommended that KMT Taipei City Councilor Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) represent the party in the by-election.
Lee Ching-yuan said there was a chance the KMT would choose a candidate through negotiations rather than the combination of polls and a vote.
He said he would accept any means of finalizing the KMT’s candidate so long as the selection mechanism was fair and transparent. Both Lin and Ching, however, insisted that they would seek to win the primary and would not accept negotiations.
The Nationality Act (國籍法) requires that elected officials with dual nationality renounce their foreign citizenship before assuming public office and obtain a certificate testifying to the loss of their foreign citizenship within a year of inauguration.
The law also requires that public officials holding foreign citizenship be removed from their posts.
Diane Lee’s qualification as a legislator was challenged after it was reported in March that she had never officially renounced her US citizenship, even though she had held public office in Taiwan since 1994.
She quit the KMT on Dec. 30 over the issue and announced her resignation as a legislator on Jan. 8 just as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians were promoting a campaign to recall her and pro-DPP civic groups were preparing to surround the legislature in protest.
The by-election in Taipei City’s Da-an (大安) legislative district will be held on March 28.
Pan Chia-sen (潘家森), director of the KMT’s Taipei City branch, said yesterday that the branch would negotiate with the councilors on Tuesday. The primary will be held according to the schedule if the negotiations fail to reach a consensus on a final candidate.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chou Po-ya (周柏雅), who expressed his intention to join the by-election, said he would seek the party’s nomination, but added that he would respect its final decision.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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