Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen’s (張碩文) father yesterday canceled his KMT party membership to run in the Yunlin County legislative by-election as an independent.
The move came after the KMT failed to dissuade him from running.
Yunlin Irrigation Association director Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元) said in a written statement that he would run in the by-election as an independent candidate.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
His daughter, Chang Yu-hsiuan (張鈺萱) yesterday completed the withdrawal process on his behalf at the KMT’s Yunlin branch.
In his written statement, Chang Hui-yuan said his decision to leave the party would give the KMT more freedom to finalize its candidate.
“Leaving the KMT is actually a big show of support for the party ... and I believe local supporters’ wisdom will be the final judge on such an unfair judicial system,” he said.
Chang Sho-wen, who won a legislative election in Yunlin County in January last year, lost his seat earlier this month after the High Court found him guilty of participating in a vote-buying scheme organized by his father.
Chang Hui-yuan, who was found guilty of vote buying in the first trial, registered with the KMT to run in the by-election on behalf of his son earlier this month.
The KMT later rejected his registration based on the revised version of its “black-gold exclusion clause,” which states that members who are found guilty of corruption at their first trial are not to be nominated for any election.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) talked to Chang Hui-yuan and Chang Sho-wen on Wednesday night, but failed to dissuade Chang Hui-yuan from running.
KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) yesterday expressed regret over Chang Hui-yuan’s move, but did not say whether the party would skip the primary to nominate the only registered hopeful for the by-election, Wu Wei-chi (吳威志), an associate professor at Yunlin Technology University.
The by-election will be held on Sept. 26.
In related news, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that the Executive Yuan should consider holding local and legislative elections at the same time to avoid the phenomenon of “phantom voters” following the approval of upgrades and mergers involving two cities and four counties.
The legal code states that a person is eligible to vote in a certain district after being a registered resident in the area for four full months.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said after the upgrades and the mergers have been completed, elections for the local government seats and legislative seats would be held one year apart, which means people could take advantage of the legal loophole to vote in two different districts by simply switching their household registration within the required time.
“In the future, population distribution could vary depending on the election season. Taiwan will become a country of phantom voters,” he said.
Huang said that a responsible government should ensure the fairness and impartiality of its elections and demanded that the Executive Yuan look into the matter.
The problem of “phantom voters” has occurred before, especially in districts where election races are tight. Some candidates mobilize non-residents to build temporary nests in a voting district in an effort to garner more votes, Huang said, giving the example of Keelung, which in 2005 reported negative population growth, but somehow returned to positive growth last month.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS