The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) aims to double its number of administrative positions in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections, party sources said.
The KMT is optimistic about retaining the New Taipei City mayor’s post, as well as the county commissioner jobs in Miaoli, Nantou, Taitung and Lienchiang counties, a party member responsible for election campaigning said.
Of the six special municipalities and counties that it now governs, Hsinchu County is the only one that is unpredictable, the member said.
While the KMT cannot afford to lose any of those areas, it is also hoping to double its number of local government heads to 12, party sources said.
The would allow it to control more than half of the nation’s cities and counties and help pave the way for victory in the 2020 presidential election, they said.
The KMT is hopeful that it will regain control of Taipei and Chiayi City, in addition to Changhua and Hualien counties, sources said, adding that Hsinchu would be more challenging, but possible.
As for Penghu, the party is expecting solid support from the county’s public-school teachers, civil servants and military personnel, who account for a high percentage of the population, sources said.
While Yilan County might be a long-term stronghold for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the KMT has faith in its candidate for county commissioner, Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙), who has developed strong grassroots support, the party said.
Of the six special municipalities, the party is prioritizing Taichung, sources said.
Popular KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) last week joined a campaign trip for KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), who is standing for mayor in that city, KMT sources said, adding that the party plans to channel more resources into the race.
As for Taipei, party statistics showed that 35 percent of the city’s residents support the KMT, while a quarter support the DPP, sources said.
While the situation is complicated by independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) re-election bid, the KMT challenger, former legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), has a good chance of beating Ko.
Voters in the nine-in-one elections are to choose mayors and councilors in the six special municipalities and other cities, Aboriginal district representatives and councilors, county commissioners and councilors, township mayors and councilors, and borough and village wardens.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS