The New Power Party (NPP) plans to announce a second wave of legislative district candidates next month, party-building taskforce interim “captain” Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
The party has already announced six district candidates, with a total of 10 candidates required for it to be eligible for at-large legislative seats.
Huang said that there are two districts in which the NPP and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have both nominated candidates, including New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and Hsinchu. He said the NPP will respect each individual candidate’s choice of how to “harmonize” with the DPP.
The NPP is inclined to nominate four more candidates in districts uncontested by the DPP, Huang said, adding that their main objective is to ensure that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) do not achieve a majority in the legislature.
He said there have been many independent candidates who have contacted the NPP to express interest in the second wave of nominations.
When asked whether he would take campaign promotional pictures with DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Huang said that he would first place a priority on policy interaction between the two parties. Because of his position as interim head of the taskforce, he should “wait a bit” as a matter of “tempo,” he said.
Chthonic frontman Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the NPP’s candidate for Taipei’s Zhongzheng/Wanhua (中正/萬華) district, has become the party’s second candidate to take pictures with Tsai for use in campaign promotional materials.
The DPP has “made way” for the musician’s candidacy by abstaining from nominating a competing candidate to stand in the district.
Lim said that DPP city councilors Chou Wei-you (周威佑) and Liu Yao-jen (劉耀仁) have allowed him to place campaign flags at their local offices, with Liu also lending him a campaign truck and election billboards, he said.
He added that he had “stayed in touch” with the district’s other two DPP city councilors, Yan Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) and Tung Chung-yan (童仲彥).
Both sides hoped to have positive interactions similar to that between the DPP and independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Lim said.
He said there were plans to put on large-scale grassroots forums along with smaller scale receptions with lower levels of the DPP, with the objective of solidifying the party’s hold on traditional DPP voters even as it broadens its share of swing voters.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it