The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it welcomed an announcement from Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) that he plans to seek the party’s nomination in the year-end Sinbei City (新北市) mayoral race.
Chu, the KMT’s preferred candidate in the Sinbei race, revealed his intention to run in an interview with Chinese-language newspaper the Economic Daily News yesterday.
Chu said his reasons for declaring his candidacy were obvious, saying that he had never opposed the KMT’s plan to appoint him as the candidate in the Sinbei race.
“The party nomination process will be completed in May or June ... I couldn’t announce my bid too early because I am not in the opposition camp. I cannot make the announcement and ignore my duty to start planning an election campaign,” he said in the interview.
Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) of the KMT confirmed yesterday that Chu had talked to him about his intention to run and said he would campaign for Chu if the party felt that useful.
Chou only announced his withdrawal from the Sinbei City mayoral race last month, acknowledging his lack of popularity in polls compared with Chu.
Both the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hope to win the first mayoral race for the city, which will have the largest population of any administrative district in the country. It is hoped victory in the election will provide much needed momentum in the run up to the 2012 presidential election.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party welcomed Chu’s declaration that he plans to seek the party nomination.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) spent the last few weeks in Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, holding talks with potential candidates. The first phase in those negotiations will be completed this week.
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
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS