The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday announced it would hold four televised sessions for presidential nominee contenders to explain their platforms in the run-up to the party primaries next month.
While a minor issue in the party primaries, the decision resolves several of presidential hopeful Annette Lu’s (呂秀蓮) grievances with the DPP’s primaries process, which she said was unfair.
Lu said she was “satisfied” with the verdict even though she had asked the party to hold up to 12 sessions, but later toned down her request to four.
TREADING CAREFULLY
The DPP is treading carefully around Lu, the party’s first declared competitor, after she voiced grievances against a decision to replace party member polls with telephone polls to decide a DPP nominee.
The four television talk spots are an increase from the 2008 primaries, in which only three were held, leading to the ultimate nomination of former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
NOT DEBATES
DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the sessions would not be debates and would include little cross-examination, although he said that candidates would be given the chance to make their concerns clear.
The DPP is close to concluding the touchy subject of nominating a presidential contender, with a final candidate expected to be decided on May 4, if not sooner, pending internal negotiations.
During the DPP’s Central Executive Committee meeting yesterday, committee member and Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), concerned that not enough time was given to understand the candidates, proposed holding up to 100 television appearances — an idea that was rapidly shot down.
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well
RSS