The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will announce this week its candidate for the Yunlin County legislative by-election as well as its candidates for the year-end mayoral and commissioner elections, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), head of the party's nominating team, said yesterday.
Following Su's remarks, DPP Yunlin County Councilor Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) suspended his campaign activities and called on fellow party member, former Yunlin County deputy commissioner Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), to also halt his campaign and wait for party headquarters to make a final decision on who should represent it in the by-election.
The by-election is being held after the Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court on Tuesday annulled the election victory of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文). Chang was declared the winner of the regional legislative seat in Yunlin County in January last year, but his opponent at the time, Liu, accused him of vote-buying and filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the election results.
Liu said he was glad to win the lawsuit and that he was willing to take over Chang's legislative seat.
Lee resigned as deputy commissioner shortly after the announcement of the annulment of last year's election.
Lee, who was leading a bike team around the county yesterday as part of his campaign, said the bicycle parade showed his determination to enter the race, but added that he would respect and obey the party's right to choose the candidate.
Su said yesterday the party was mulling asking DPP Legislator Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) to enter the Chiayi county commissioner race.
Citing five recent polls conducted by the party, Su said Chang Hwa-kuan led the KMT's candidate — Legislator Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) — by 10 percent, suggesting a good chance of defeating Wong.
The party would support former Nantou County commissioner Lin Tsung-nan (林宗男) in the Nantou race, Su added.
Su said Lin, who withdrew from the DPP four years ago after losing the DPP Nantou commissioner primary to then DPP-nominee Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), could not rejoin the party for five years under DPP regulations.
As such, the DPP could only recommend him, but not nominate him as party candidate, Su said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS