The legislative by-election in Taipei is an opportunity for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to cooperate with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday.
The DPP in the nine-in-one local elections on Saturday had a bruising defeat and Ko narrowly won re-election.
Five legislative by-elections are to be held, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) was elected Taichung mayor, KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) was elected Changhua County commissioner and KMT Legislator Yang Chen-wu (楊鎮浯) was elected Kinmen County commissioner.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
In addition, DPP Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) was elected Tainan mayor and DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) resigned from his post to run for Taipei mayor.
Wang Ding-yu said that the DPP should seriously consider its relationship with Ko, as many young people chose not to vote for the party’s candidates because it went against Ko in the Taipei mayoral election.
If they do not handle their relationship properly, the DPP and Ko are to face difficulties posed by the KMT, which has become stronger due to Chinese support, he said, adding that they could end up harming each other and the nation.
“The relationship should be dealt with in the five legislative by-elections, especially in Taipei,” Wang Ding-yu said. “Both sides should find common ground for collaboration, rather than emphasize their differences.”
If the DPP and Ko nominate their own candidates for the Taipei by-election, the seat would almost certainly be taken by the KMT, he added.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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