The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced the list of hopefuls that have expressed interest in running in the five year-end special municipality elections, and said it will begin performing opinion polls and hold another round of negotiations before it finalizes its candidates.
Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫), the only one to announce his bid to represent the party in the race for Sinbei City — Taipei County’s new name after it is upgraded — is likely to be nominated by the KMT without any negotiations.
In Taipei City, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and KMT Taipei City Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋) will be competing in the polls for the party’s nomination.
In Greater Taichung City, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), Taichung County Deputy Commissioner Chang Chuang-hsi (張壯熙) and KMT Legislator Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠) will be included in the polls.
The competition in Greater Kaohsiung is much more intense, as six hopefuls including Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉), KMT lawmakers Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), Hou Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳), Lin Yi-shih (林益世) and Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) and former commissioner of Taipei City Department of Labor Affairs Su Ying-kuei (蘇盈貴) are all eyeing the party’s nomination.
As for Tainan, former KMT legislators Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) and Kuo Tien-tsai (郭添財) and Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) will compete in the polls, according to the list released by the party.
KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party will start conducting polls and begin another round of negotiations based on the poll results.
The nominees for the five special municipalities are scheduled to be finalized by next month.
In related news, the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that the three-in-one elections for the residents of the five special municipalities to elect mayors, councilors and borough chiefs will be held on Nov. 27.
Polling stations will open at 8am and remain open until 4pm in the five special municipalities — Taipei City, Sinbei City (the upgraded Taipei County) , Taichung City (a merger of the city with Taichung County), Tainan City (a merger of the city with Tainan County) and Kaohsiung City (a merger of the city with Kaohsiung County), the CEC said.
In response to public demand, all the municipalities decided to combine the elections to save money and simplify the administrative work required to conduct the balloting.
The current term for incumbent city mayors and councilors will end on Dec. 25, while the term for incumbent borough chiefs will end on Jan. 16, 2011.
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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
RSS