The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) announced its 10-member legislators-at-large list yesterday and said it hoped to surpass the 5 percent threshold for a legislator-at-large seat and win at least two seats in the January legislative elections.
Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信), an economics professor, and Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲), a lawyer, were the top two candidates on the list that includes five male and five female candidates, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a press conference.
“We are very confident that we can win more than 5 percent of the party votes and win at least two legislative seats,” said Huang Kun-huei, who was placed third on the list.
A more ambitious goal would be winning three seats, a minimum requirement for a party to establish a caucus in the legislature, Huang said.
Based on turnout rates in the last legislative elections, the TSU will need between 500,000 and 600,000 party votes, he said, adding that it would take another 160,000 votes to win an extra seat.
The TSU would implement an innovative way to maximize its influence in the legislature if it won a pair of seats by splitting the four-year term so the party would have four members serving two years each as legislators, Huang Kun-huei said.
The TSU chairman reiterated that the party is urging its supporters to vote for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the presidential election and DPP legislative candidates in local districts.
The TSU is focusing on garnering party votes and so it did not nominate candidates to run for the nation’s 73 direct legislative seats.
The TSU is the second party to unveil its legislators-at-large list after the DPP. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party are expected to announce their lists later.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not