Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday described the loss of the candidate he backed in the Taipei legislative by-election on Sunday as “part of life,” but added that soliciting grassroots support is difficult without party affiliation.
His favored candidate, Chen Su-yu (陳思宇), finished a distant third in the poll, which saw five candidates vie for the legislative seat left vacant by Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who resigned during his unsuccessful bid for Taipei mayor last year.
DPP legislative candidate Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) won the seat.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The race was described as a test of Ko’s potential in next year’s elections.
Asked about the election results, Ko said: “Whether it was a success or a failure, it was nothing but part of life.”
What is different is “you have to write more evaluations after a defeat than a success,” Ko said, adding that the results were “pretty much as predicted by opinion polls.”
Some have said that a lack of organized support could be Ko’s Achilles heel if he decides to run for president and Ko said that without party backing, it would be very difficult to solicit votes.
Niu Tse-hsun (鈕則勳), head of Chinese Culture University’s advertising department, said the by-election results showed that Ko’s camp had trouble converting “online air votes” into “real votes.”
This should make Ko seriously reconsider whether he should set up his own political party, Niu said.
Asked if he wants to form a party, Ko said: “I do not know,” adding that in people’s minds, there is a constant process of thinking and revising.
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.
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
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
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
RSS