Taipei mayoral hopefuls Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) and independent Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are to participate in three debates to help determine the final pan-green candidate on June 12.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) — convener of a task force responsible for the selection of the final pan-green camp candidate — yesterday said that after a two-hour negotiation, both camps agreed to hold the events in the eight days starting on Saturday.
Gao outlined a different format for each debate.
The first debate, to be held between Saturday and Monday next week, would include a platform presentation. The second is to be an interviews by a television political show presenter. The third debate on June 7 would be opened up to the public to put questions to the contenders, as well as allowing Yao and Ko to grill each other, Gao said.
Campaigning and all forms of political advertising are prohibited on June 11 and June 12, Gao said.
According to a mutual agreement, a public opinion poll on June 12 would serve as the primary mechanism to help determine the final pan-green camp candidate.
The contender is then set to run against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate former Taipei EasyCard Co chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) in the Taipei election in November.
Yao, a senior lawmaker, emerged as the surprising winner of the first DPP stage of the primary after a slow start.
Ko’s support rate is leading all pan-green camp hopefuls in the second stage.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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