Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is to announce her decision on seeking a district legislative seat in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) today, her office said yesterday.
“Hung will let the public know her decision after giving the matter some serious thought,” spokesman Feng Yi-chao (馮怡超) said, adding that an article published by the Chinese-language online news platform SETN.com yesterday evening was unsubstantiated.
According to the article, Hung said in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Phoenix New Media yesterday afternoon that she would register as a candidate for a legislative seat representing Yonghe at 3pm today.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
When asked prior to the interview to confirm the rumors about her legislative bid, Hung told reporters: “You will know tomorrow [today].”
“Many people have advised me to run for a legislative seat, but this is a serious matter and I need to give it some thought,” Hung said, adding that her support rating in Yonghe topped that of KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) by 15 percent.
Hung said she would not accept a nomination by the KMT as a legislator-at-large candidate for the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, as it would require the party to amend its nomination regulations to exempt her from a self-imposed two-term limit on an at-large seat.
“I should be able to fight and win on my turf,” said Hung, whose second legislator-at-large term expires on Jan. 31.
Asked whether the KMT is worried about her potential bid, Hung said the party has endured all sorts of hardship and was unlikely to get nervous because of her.
Hung said that she and Lin were close acquaintances and that the issue of both of them running for the same seat would be handled with wisdom.
When asked about the possibility of seeking the KMT chairpersonship, Hung said it was too early to talk about the issue.
Separately, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he is confident that the KMT would retain its legislative majority in January’s elections.
“If it is hard for the KMT to win more than half of the legislative seats, it is equally hard for other parties,” Wang said as he led several KMT legislator-at-large candidates to register their candidacies at the Central Election Commission in Taipei. “At least the KMT will remain the largest party in the Legislative Yuan. I believe that.”
KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) said the party would not nominate another candidate to fill the vacancy left by Taiwan Petroleum Workers’ Union chairman Chuang Chueh-an (莊爵安), who forfeited his at-large nomination earlier this week because he was unhappy with the party’s slate of at-large legislators and his ranking on the list.
Lee said the party listed 33 people as candidates with the commission.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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