Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) yesterday said he had decided to drop out of the party’s Nantou County commissioner primary next year.
Tsai’s decision, which was announced after a meeting convened by former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), leaves the primary a battle between two former lawmakers, Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) and Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖).
“Solidarity will be important for the DPP to win in the corruption-ridden central Taiwan county, which has been suffering from a high unemployment rate, a population outflow and a declining local economy,” Tsai said.
Tsai said he would offer full support to whoever wins the nomination.
Meanwhile, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said she has not made a final decision on whether to run in the Taipei mayoral election next year.
Dozens of borough wards met Lu and expressed their support if she decides to run.
“Taipei is a must-win constituency if the DPP is serious about notching up a convincing victory in the seven-in-one local elections, especially the mayoral elections in the six special municipalities,” she said.
“The DPP must nominate the best candidate [in Taipei], but it doesn’t have to be me,” Lu said.
If Lu entered the party primary, her opponents could be lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who has expressed his interest in the bid, and National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who has received strong support from DPP members.
Koo and Ko have been visiting senior DPP politicians, but neither has made official announcements about their candidacy.
Koo visited former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday afternoon at Lee’s office in Tamsui District (淡水), New Taipei City (新北市).
According to a press release issued by Koo’s office, the former president offered his encouragement and support to Koo’s possible bid.
Ko met with DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday afternoon at the DPP headquarters, but remained tight-lipped on his decision.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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