The number of signatures collected for People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) passed the threshold required to register for participating in the January presidential election, PFP officials said yesterday.
As stipulated in Article 46 of the Constitution and Article 23 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), presidential and vice presidential candidates must gather signatures amounting to 1.5 percent of voters in the most recent elections to demonstrate that the candidate enjoys popular support.
That means Soong needs 257,695 signatures to enter the presidential election.
PFP spokesperson Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) said the number of signatures in the first batch that the party is scheduled to deliver to the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) Taipei branch today likely exceed 300,000.
“We hope the CEC will not try to nitpick problems with the petitions,” he said.
As some of the petitions have not yet been processed, the PFP is also expected to turn in a second batch of signatures before Saturday’s deadline, which by law is the 45th day after Soong and running mate Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄) applied to the commission to run in the presidential and vice presidential election.
To avoid any interference as the petitions are processed before they are sent to the commission, the PFP has kept the processing location a secret.
Once the petitions are submitted to the commission, the PFP will continue to make plans for the January presidential and legislative elections, including the announcement of another wave of legislative nominees and the announcement of its legislators-at-large list.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
RSS