With the televised debates between presidential and vice presidential candidates concluding with the second presidential debate on Saturday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is getting ready for a burst of activity prior to the Jan. 14 elections, DPP campaign office spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said yesterday.
The DPP is scheduled to hold about 40 large rallies, with both the presidential and vice presidential candidates canvassing for votes along Provincial Highway Nos. 1, 3 and 9 by motorcade, Hsu said, adding that starting from Saturday, large rally events would be held in counties and cities every night.
The DPP will also mobilize all DPP civil servants in canvassing at important crossroads as well as traditional markets, Hsu said.
Photo: Hsieh Yin-chung, Taipei Times
Following the recall of all campaign piggy banks yesterday, Hsu said more events allowing mass public participation would be organized. He added that there would also be another wave of public relations activities aimed at explaining DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policies to the public, using mass media and the Internet.
Hsu said the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were almost tied in the race, adding that this was the first time in 25 years that the DPP was able to go toe-to-toe with the KMT.
This shows the government has not won public support, Hsu said.
Commenting on the Yu Chang Biologics Co controversy, Hsu said it was a classic maneuver of using the state apparatus to oppress a certain presidential candidate, adding that Taiwanese have enough wisdom to judge for themselves.
History also shows that the side that uses negative campaigning methods usually loses the elections, Hsu said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS