Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday questioned the accuracy of a purportedly “leaked” list of legislator-at-large nominees that failed to include many sitting DPP lawmakers.
Michael You (游盈隆), a Soochow University professor with close ties to the DPP, posted the list on Facebook on Monday night, saying the information was disclosed through a “friend familiar with the workings of the party.”
The top three candidates on the supposed roster — excluding potential female nominees — were former legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), former DPP secretary-general Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), a close Tsai aide, and caucus chief Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Rounding out the top five were DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) at No. 4 and DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) in the fifth spot. Former premier Yu Shyi-kun was No. 7, with the sixth spot left undecided.
Asked about the disclosure, Tsai said a DPP nomination task force had not finished settling the roster of potential nominees and that she did not think the “leaked list” was based on evidence.
“There are many people currently included on the list and we are still holding discussions. We haven’t addressed the issue of arrangements or individual cases,” Tsai said. “We aren’t at that point yet.”
The DPP received 14 of 34 legislator-at-large seats in the 2008 legislative elections, equally split between males and females, based on 38.2 percent of the popular vote, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took the remaining 20 seats.
Legislators-at-large are elected based on their arrangement on the party-submitted list.
You’s list, if true, would represent a major shakeup for the DPP, with Ker and Chai the only two of the seven top male nominees in 2008 included in the latest roster. Based on current poll predictions, the DPP can expect to potentially elect eight to 10 legislators-at-large.
Two lawmakers left off the supposed roster were blunt regarding the credibility of the list.
“It’s not accurate if it doesn’t have me,” said DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), ranked No. 2 and the first among male candidates in 2008. “I have 100 percent confidence the party will ask me to continue serving as legislator-at-large.”
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), ranked seventh — fourth among men — in the last round, said: “It’s not trustworthy and must be just a rumor.”
There are concerns within the party that the disclosure, whether true or false, could deepen factional divisions and increase pressure on the DPP nomination task force, which is led by Tsai Ing-wen.
An official roster is expected on Wednesday next week.
The top four on the alleged roster are seen as supporters of Tsai Ing-wen and the disclosure could have repercussions for other party bigwigs, including former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who has been listed as another possible legislator-at-large nominee.
“These false rumors have increased the difficulties of the task force. We should all respect the process,” Chen said, speaking in his role as DPP spokesperson.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the