The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it would launch an investigation into a legislative primary dispute between KMT legislators John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) and Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) after Chiang accused Lo of winning a poll yesterday using smear tactics.
In the poll held by the KMT’s Taipei City branch on Friday and Saturday to finalize the legislative candidate for the Zhongshan (中山)-Songshan (松山) electoral district, Lo barely bested her opponent with 35.97 percent support, against Chiang’s 35.39 percent.
After the final results were announced, Chiang issued a protest and blamed Lo for his loss in the poll, calling on the KMT to look into what he called “vicious attacks” against him from Lo’s camp.
“The smear campaign by the Lo camp is a violation of party regulations and the poll results were distorted because of the vicious attacks against me,” Chiang said in a written statement. “I have reported her violations to the party and await an investigation to be launched.”
Lo defended her victory, saying she would spare no efforts to win the seat for the KMT.
“A victory is a victory, even if it is only by one vote. The KMT needs a candidate who has passion and is capable. I will not disappoint President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT if the party nominates me,” she said.
KMT Taipei City branch director Pan Chia-sen (潘家森) said the branch would start an investigation into the dispute and present the results to the KMT’s nomination committee for a final decision on the matter.
The KMT completed its first round of nominations for legislative election last week. It is scheduled to complete the second and third phases of the nomination process on May 11 and May 25.
Pan said the party would not base its selections solely on poll results and would continue negotiation to finalize the list.
After weeks of speculation on a possible merger of the presidential and legislative elections — a move supported by the KMT — the Central Election Commission last week announced the two elections would be held simultaneously on Jan. 14 next year. Following the announcement, Democratic Progressive Party legislators, fearing the move would create a four-month lame-duck presidency before the next -president steps into the -Presidential Office on May 20, proposed a constitutional amendment and said the merger should be postponed until the 2016 elections.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS