The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will only consider naming party members as its candidates in local elections, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said yesterday, one day before National Taiwan University physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is to meet with DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to discuss the possibility of joining the party.
Ko, an independent hoping to run in the DPP’s Taipei mayoral primary who has been leading all DPP aspirants in recent opinion surveys, remains undecided on whether to join the party due to its two-year membership threshold for election candidates.
Under the DPP’s primary regulations, only members who have been in the party for more than two years are eligible to run as a DPP nominee.
However, candidates in the local elections next year are exempt from the limitation as the party authorized its chairman to recruit any party member as nominee.
There have been speculations that the DPP would make Ko a parachute candidate in the Taipei mayoral election next year to increase the party’s chance of winning in the traditionally pan-blue stronghold, but other aspirants have expressed either opposition to or reservations about the idea.
“The DPP welcomes Ko’s visit and is willing to exchange opinions and ideas with him on matters that he is unclear about. We believe such a meeting would be ‘positive,’” Lin said.
Citing the primary regulations, Lin said the party would only nominate parachute candidates for some of the mayoral and county commissioner elections and that such candidate must be a DPP member.
“All the candidates must be nominated in accordance with the party’s primary mechanism and no one, not even the party chairman, can violate or ignore the regulations,” Lin said, adding that parachute candidates were exempt from the two-year membership requirement.
In related developments, a public poll released yesterday by the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper showed that the majority — 35.65 percent — of the Taipei residents polled would vote for Ko if the mayoral election were held tomorrow.
Only 23.77 percent of respondents said they would vote for former Taipei Easycard Corp president Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman and vice president Lien Chan (連戰).
As for other DPP aspirant Taipei mayoral candidates, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) garnered a support rate of 15.54 percent, followed by lawyer Wellington Koo’s (顧立雄) 8.04 percent and DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair’s (許添財) 4.75 percent.
The poll was conducted between Wednesday and Friday among 1,101 Taipei residents aged 20 and above.
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
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
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 US Department of State on Monday reaffirmed that US policy on Taiwan remains unchanged, following US President Donald Trump’s use of the term “unification” while commenting on recent trade talks with China. Speaking at a wide-ranging press conference, Trump described what he viewed as progress in trade negotiations with China held in Geneva, Switzerland, over the weekend. “They’ve agreed to open China — fully open China, and I think it’s going to be fantastic for China. I think it’s going to be fantastic for us,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to be great for unification and peace.” Trump’s use of the
RSS