A total of 54 hopefuls registered on Friday, the last day of candidacy registration, to run for 17 seats in the year-end mayoral and county commissioner elections, information from the Central Election Commission showed.
Except for Taoyuan County, where the Hakka party nominated one candidate, the race will be among the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and independents.
In Kinmen County, which has a population of about 85,000, seven candidates will vie for the county commissioner seat, which is the highest number of hopefuls registered to compete for one seat.
The hopefuls in the Kinmen race include independent candidate Wu Cheng-tien (吳成典), a former KMT legislator, and the KMT’s nominee Lee Wo-shi (李沃士).
In Taitung County, with incumbent County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) agreeing to withdraw from the race at the last minute, the KMT has been able to integrate its local factions to make it a two-way battle with the DPP candidate.
In Pingtung, Yunlin and Yilan counties, the KMT and the DPP will each field one candidate, which means that those seats will be a straight fight between the two major parties.
This is not the case in Hsinchu, Chiayi or Nantou counties, where there are four aspirants for each seat. Among the hopefuls in the Hsinchu County race are KMT-nominated Legislator Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) and Hsinchu County Council Speaker Chang Pi-chin (張碧琴), who was expelled by the KMT on Monday for registering for the county commissioner election. It will be three-way races in Miaoli, Taoyuan, Hualien, Penghu, Lienchiang (Matsu) and Changhua counties, as well as in Chiayi, Keelung and Hsinchu cities.
In Yunlin County, a recent survey by the United Daily News put incumbent DPP Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) far ahead of the KMT’s last-minute nominee, Wu Wei-chi (吳威志).
In Hualien County, KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who is running as an independent, is leading KMT nominee Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) and Hualien County Deputy Commissioner Chang Chih-ming (張志明), who recently withdrew from the KMT to run as an independent candidate, the newspaper poll showed.
Meanwhile, a KMT official said yesterday the party would expel those who do not toe the party line and run as independents in elections.
Juan Kang-meng (阮剛猛), director of the KMT’s Evaluation and Disciplinary Committee, said that five KMT members, including Fu, Wu and Chang Chi-ming will be expelled when the KMT steering committee meets today.
The year-end “three-in-one” elections for mayors and county commissioners, city and county councilors, and city and township heads will be held on Dec. 5.
Because seven cities and counties — Taipei County, Taichung City and county, Tainan City and county and Kaohsiung City and county — will be upgraded or merged into municipalities, the elections will be held in only 17 cities and counties.
The polls will be the first crucial test of the government’s popularity since the harsh criticism it faced over the 700 deaths, massive flooding and landslides that occurred in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot in August.
The elections are also seen as an indicator toward the outcome of next year’s municipal elections and the 2012 presidential election.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS