The People First Party (PFP) will release part of its list of legislative election candidates today, confirming that more than 10 candidates, including former independent legislator Li Ao (李敖), will run under its banner in the January.
PFP Taipei City Councilor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) and former PFP legislator Chen Chen-sheng (陳振盛) will also be on the 10-name list to be released today, party spokesman Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) said yesterday.
The 10 candidates will run in Taipei City, New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan, Greater Kaohsiung and Kinmen County, he said, adding that more names would be announced soon.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will announce today’s list at a press conference, Wu said, adding that Soong would make up his mind about his own election bid after mapping out the party’s overall election strategy.
There has been speculation that the former Taiwan provincial governor might decide to enter the presidential or legislative elections, or add his name to the PFP’s legislators-at-large list.
The PFP’s decision to run its own candidates in January has deepened the rift in the pan-blue camp between the party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Soong’s possible bid for the presidency has also been seen as a potential spoiler for Ma, who is facing a tight race against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
KMT spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) reiterated her party’s call for collaboration with the PFP in the legislative elections, and said the KMT would not give up on cooperation with the PFP.
“The two parties can continue negotiations on nominees and jointly nominate candidates who represent the pan-blue camp via a fair mechanism,” she said.
She said Ma had contacted Soong’s secretary last week to arrange a meeting, but the PFP chairman said through his secretary that the timing was not right and any meeting should be between the two parties’ secretaries-general.
The KMT has completed its legislative nomination process in 69 electoral districts and is scheduled to complete the process in the remaining six districts by the end of this month. It has proposed holding negotiations with the PFP on candidates in undecided districts via polls. However, the PFP has been reluctant to respond to the idea.
The PFP hopes to win at least 5 percent of the vote — the threshold for securing legislator-at-large seats — by nominating at least 15 candidates in the legislative elections.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS