The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate for next year is likely to be identified later this month, when the party is to publish its nomination rules.
KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) yesterday said that the party’s candidate nomination rules for next year are expected to be the same as those in the past and are to be presented to the KMT’s decisionmaking Central Standing Committee for approval on Wednesday.
The rules are to be published a week after their approval, to launch the processes for applications and endorsements for presidential hopefuls, Lee said.
This means that the issue of who will run for the ruling party could become clear after Wednesday next week.
As of yesterday, only Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) had made public her intention to run for the KMT’s nomination, although Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) are also seen as potential contenders.
Also, many KMT lawmakers have expressed hope that New Taipei City Mayor and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) will represent the party in the upcoming presidential race against Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking her party’s nomination and the chance to become Taiwan’s first female head of state.
Chu is regarded as a promising presidential hopeful, even though he has continuously repeated his intention to complete his second four-year term as mayor of New Taipei City, the most populous city in the nation.
Chu won re-election in local government elections on Nov. 29 last year.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
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CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition