The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday rebutted press reports that it was delaying its Taipei County primary to benefit unpopular Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋).
A story in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) said the party was holding back on its primary to see if the Ministry of the Interior would approve Taipei County’s application to become a special municipality, a decision that could cause a delay in the county commissioner election and boost Chou’s approval rating.
KMT Vice Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the party did not have any plan to postpone its primary for Taipei County commissioner over the possibility that the central government would allow the county to become a special municipality.
“It is the Executive Yuan’s authority to determine whether to elevate [the county’s] status or put off the election. There is no way for the party to predict [the Executive Yuan’s] decision,” Wu said.
OPPOSED TO DELAY
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said yesterday that while the DPP supported the county’s upgrade, it opposed delaying the Taipei County commissioner election.
Cheng said that upgrading the county did not have to be tied to a delay in the election, adding that the commissioner’s term could be four years for this term and five years for next term.
If upgrading the county’s status were tied to a postponement in the commissioner election, it would be a dirty trick to get Chou an extra year in office, Cheng said.
If upgrading counties and cities to special municipalities appeared to be linked to election campaign manipulation, the ruling party would not only lose voters’ trust, but also prove that it placed party benefits above that of the country, he said.
EQUAL TREATMENT
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said in a press release yesterday that the applications applications for administrative status upgrade from all cities and counties — including Taipei County — would be reviewed based on the same standards and treated equally.
“In respect to amendments of the Local Government Act [地方制度法] passed by the Legislative Yuan and to the opinion of local residents, any application for administrative upgrades, whether it is filed by cities or counties independently or jointly, will be handled according to the law and relevant resolutions adopted by the legislature,” the statement said.
The ministry said it planned to organize public hearings on the issue across the country involving representatives from local governments, academic experts and local civic groups.
“Taipei County Council had passed an application for administrative upgrade on April 27 and it was sent to the ministry on May 8,” the statement said. “It will be reviewed following the same principle as mentioned above.”
Review process of all applications will be completed by the end of August, a ministry official said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS