The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday announced its legislator-at-large nominees, a list which contrasted with past practice as it included a substantial portion of nominees who are not DPP members.
The list of 34 nominees includes 14 who are not affiliated with any political party. Five of the top eight nominees are not DPP members, which means members of the public have a greater chance of winning seats in the legislature in the Jan. 16 elections.
At a press conference in Taipei, DPP Chairwoman and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that though the roster is very “non-DPP” on the surface, it fully reflects the party’s beliefs of openness and diversity, thereby allowing for more professional input in the legislature.
Photo: CNA
Later in the day, DPP legislators Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) and Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who have also been nominated for legislator-at-large seats, visited the Central Election Commission and completed the registration for their nominations.
Each nominee would shoulder their responsibility to push for reform, monitor the government and establish communication between the public and the government if they win a seat in the legislature, Tsai said.
“I promise that each and every DPP lawmaker will assume the role of ‘megaphone,’ to broadcast public opinion. Let us achieve an outright majority in the legislature so that we can truly bring about reform,” Tsai said.
Asked about an opinion piece penned by Eric Chen (陳瑞仁) of the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, in which Chen insinuated that Judicial Reform Foundation standing director Wellington Ku’s (顧立雄) acceptance of the DPP nomination proves that “power is enticing,” Tsai said: “I am not sure who he [Chen] is talking about. I believe that Ku is the one who is most familiar with issues about judicial reform. I think that he is an ideal nominee with expansive experience.”
Tsai also confirmed that former Academia Sinica vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and herself would register as presidential and vice presidential candidates at the Central Election Commission on Friday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS