Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) yesterday said that he would resign to prepare for next year’s Tainan mayoral election, calling on DPP lawmakers intending to contest the post to resign their seats to avoid abusing government resources for their personal campaigns.
Lee said his resignation was to ease concerns that his position might gain him an advantage in the DPP’s nomination race.
“Some rivals have expressed displeasure over my involvement as deputy secretary-general in the mayoral campaign and they have pressured President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) [who also serves as DPP chair],” Lee said.
“To protect the party and keep Tsai from being involved in things that are insignificant to the president, I have decided to resign, which shows my determination to win the party’s nomination,” Lee said.
The DPP is expected to hold a primary election in March next year to nominate candidates for next year’s mayoral and county councilor elections.
DPP legislators Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲), Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃), Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) and Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), as well as former Tainan deputy mayor Yen Chun-tso (顏純左), have declared their intentions to join the party’s primary for Tainan, with DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) also expected to enter the race.
An opinion poll released on Tuesday by Chinese-language online news outlet My-Formosa.com ranked Huang as the most popular candidate with an approval rating of 44.5 percent, followed by Chen at 29 percent, Wang at 28.9 percent, Yen at 25.7 percent, Yeh at 23.6 percent and Lee at 14.7 percent.
As Tainan is a DPP stronghold, the candidate who secures the party’s nomination is expected to win the mayorship, as the poll showed that New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) received an approval rating of only 18.7 percent.
“The accuracy of the poll can be debated, and whether there is any political motivation behind the poll is also open for discussion,” Lee said.
Lee, who was born in then-Tainan County and served as a legislator representing the region from 1996 to 2012, won the DPP nomination to run for county commissioner in 2009.
However, the county commissioner election was canceled after the central government merged the county with then-Tainan City to create a special municipality.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS