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.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS