The goal of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) planned extraordinary party congress later this month is to galvanize a consensus within the party to help it win January’s presidential election, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday.
After attending a Double Ten National Day ceremony earlier in the day, Chu, who doubles as New Taipei City mayor, said at the Taipei City Hall that the agenda, the date and the location for the extraordinary party congress has not been finalized.
However, what is certain is the purpose of the meeting: To galvanize a consensus to help the party win the election, Chu said.
Chu’s remarks came after the KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution unanimously to convene an extraordinary party congress later this month to consider a proposal to replace KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱).
Hung, who was nominated by the party on July 19, has consistently lagged at least 20 points behind Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in most polls, and the gap has shown no signs of narrowing.
Many KMT candidates for the legislative elections, which are scheduled to be held on the same day as the presidential election, Jan. 16, fear that the weakness of Hung’s candidacy would hurt their chances, calling for another face at the top of the ticket.
Chu is expected to be drafted to replace Hung at the party congress, but when asked about the possibility of Hung as his running mate, he said it was a hypothetical question that had not been discussed within the party.
Chu said he would continue communicating with Hung, who has resisted efforts to remove her as the party’s standard-bearer, and felt confident that the issue would be satisfactorily addressed.
In response to questions on whether the KMT would cooperate with People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜), Chu said he has always respected Soong, a former KMT political heavyweight.
Chu said he would discuss possible cooperation between the two parties with Soong, adding that he believes that there are many ways to do so.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS