New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) on Saturday called on party members to support the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in January’s legislative elections to prevent the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from gaining a legislative majority.
Speaking at a celebration to mark the party’s 22nd founding anniversary, Yok said the New Party would throw its weight behind the KMT and encourage its supporters to vote for the ruling party in the political party portion of the legislative elections.
Under the single-district, two-vote system, voters usually cast one ballot for a district member and another for a political party. Seventy-three of the 113 members of the Legislative Yuan are district members representing special municipalities, counties and cities; six are elected from among Aboriginal communities and 34 seats are allotted to at-large legislators selected by the parties.
In previous elections, the New Party was concerned about the party vote because parties usually receive government subsidies in proportion to the number of votes they win in an election, Yok said.
However, the New Party has decided not to vie for the party vote this time, and would call on its members to support the KMT, he said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) attended the New Party’s anniversary celebrations.
The New Party was founded on Aug. 22, 1993 by members of a KMT faction uphappy with what they saw as then-president and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) moving the party away from unification with China and his “Taiwanization” of the KMT.
Prominent founding members include former minister of finance Wang Chien-shien and former Environmental Protection Administration director Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康).
Its best showing was in the 1995 legislative elections, when it won 21 of the 164 seats. However, it failed to win any seats in the 2008 and 2012 legislative polls.
Yok said that while the New Party will not vie for the party seats, it would nominate candidates to run for district seats, including in Taipei and Kinmen County.
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
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
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS