The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to complete its nominations for the year-end elections for mayor and county commissioner next month, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it would stick to a “go-slow” strategy as it seeks “suitable” candidates.
DPP official said the party had decided not to hold a primary to select its nominees and has empowered the party’s leadership to make the choices.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said the nomination process would be based on guidelines laid out by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that said the nominees must be strong enough to win, have a good public image and be true to the DPP’s values.
PHOTO: CNA
The party will field a candidate in each of the 23 counties and cities that will hold elections, while the nominees in 11 localities have already been selected, Hung said.
Among the localities where a candidate has not yet been selected are Taipei County, Tainan County and Chiayi County — areas where the races are expected to be highly competitive.
In Taipei County, Tsai and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) are considered two of the most suitable choices for the commissioner election, DPP officials said.
But Tsai has ruled out running for the post, and Su, a former Taipei County commissioner, has said he has no plans at this time to join the race. Under these circumstances, former national policy adviser Huang Yueh-sui (黃越綏), who has expressed an interest in running for the post, is likely to vie for the party’s nomination, the officials said.
In Tainan County, although former commissioner and former Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (陳唐山), 74, tops other DPP politicians in terms of support ratings, there are differences within the party over whether he should run again in light of his advanced age, the officials said.
In Chiayi County, incumbent commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) has strongly opposed a bid by his wife, Liao Su-hui (廖素惠), to compete in the next election, the officials said, adding that the situation has greatly increased the odds of Legislator Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) winning the party’s nomination.
On Saturday, Tsai said the party was confident of winning commissioner elections in Yunlin and Kaohsiung County late this year.
“The residents in the two counties have been satisfied with the performances of the incumbent DPP commissioners, so the party is confident of continuing with the two,” Tsai told reporters while leading a bicycle tour event in Chiayi County.
Meanwhile, KMT officials said the KMT would stick to a “go-slow” strategy, with the goal of winning southern localities currently governed by the DPP.
The officials said that while the DPP would complete its nominations for the elections next month, the KMT would conclude its nomination process in early June.
Given the DPP’s high popularity in southern Taiwan, it is crucial that the KMT fields “suitable” candidates who stand out in terms of integrity, public image and service to local residents, they said.
The importance of choosing the right candidates was driven home with last year’s presidential election, in which the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) garnered over 50 percent of the votes in the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan and more than 48 percent of the votes in the southern counties of Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Yunlin, the officials said.
Yunlin and Kaohsiung counties are considered the two southern localities where the KMT has the best chances of ousting the DPP incumbents.
In Yunlin County, a member of the influential family of former commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) is likely to represent the KMT in the upcoming election — a choice that could pose a threat to the DPP as its advantage in the county is not overwhelming, KMT officials said.
In Kaohsiung County, Kaohsiung County Council Speaker Hsu Fu-sen (?? will emerge as a strong challenger thanks to his friendly relations with major political factions in the county, the officials said.
However, the officials said that in the face of growing public discontent with the current economic downturn, the KMT is not necessarily in an advantageous position.
The economic recession also means that many politicians may be short of funds, and therefore it would be best to prolong the nomination process so as to shorten the campaign period and save money, they said.
The KMT recently completed a survey that showed the outlook for the party is not very good in Taipei, Ilan, Nantou and Taitung counties, all of which it currently controls, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the KMT will very likely have a hard time mediating among the large number of aspirants in Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Taichung County, Taichung City and Hualien County, where the KMT incumbents will be stepping down after serving two consecutive terms, the officials said.
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