Next year’s local elections are to be the first test for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since last year’s presidential elections, the party’s director of organization Lee Cheng-yi (李政毅) said yesterday.
The DPP is optimistic that it will pass the public’s scrutiny, Lee said, citing strong public support during the 2014 mayoral and commissioner elections.
Those elections directly influenced the presidential and legislative elections last year, he said.
Before 2014, the DPP only held six mayoral and commissioner seats, compared with the 16 seats held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and independents, he said.
However, the situation has reversed, with the DPP and independents occupying 16 seats combined, he said, adding that this shows that Taiwanese are willing to give the DPP a chance at the local level.
“The public is practically giving the DPP a blank check in terms of authority, handing it power from the central to the local level,” he said.
In next year’s elections, the DPP is to attempt to retain power in cities and counties it has already won, while trying to gain a foothold in the offshore counties, which have traditionally been a KMT stronghold, Lee said.
The first-term DPP mayors and commissioners of nine cities and counties will be allowed to run for re-election, he said, adding that this will allow the party to evaluate their leadership.
In localities where DPP mayors and commissioners are on their second consecutive terms — Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi and Yilan counties — the party is to select new candidates through a primary election in the hope of retaining its control in those areas, he said.
As for non-DPP-governed administrative areas, DPP Legislator Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) will run for Taitung County commissioner, while Hung Kuo-hao (洪國浩), mayor of Nantou County’s Caotun Township (草屯), will run for Nantou County commissioner, Lee said, adding that the party would enlist candidates for Miaoli, Hsinchu and Hualien counties.
The party is communicating with possible candidates in Miaoli County, but it needs to gather more feedback from locals, he said.
In Hsinchu County, the party has a shortlist of candidates — including Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) — but has not made a final decision, he said.
As for the nation’s capital, the DPP plans to decide on a candidate after evaluating its relationship with incumbent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), he said, adding that choosing a candidate for New Taipei City would be more of a challenge, given that it has the nation’s largest constituency.
Regarding the offshore counties, Lee said: “If we cannot find someone, then we will need to cooperate with someone [outside the party].”
Confidence in the party has increased since Premier William Lai (賴清德) took office, he added.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai