New Power Party (NPP) Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday said that caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) could be drafted as its presidential candidate if the party decides to join next year’s presidential race.
“If the party decides to nominate its own presidential candidate, drafting Huang would be a key option,” Hsu told a news conference at the caucus office in Taipei.
It is just an idea from the party headquarters and not yet a formal proposal, he said, adding that Huang has been consulted.
A proposal for the party to nominate its own candidate is still being discussed internally, he added.
If NPP members decide that Huang should be drafted, they would need to persuade him into accepting the arrangement before confirming the nomination at the party’s national convention, he said.
Asked about the headquarters’ plan to draft him, Huang said that he remains focused on his job as a legislator and promoting reforms.
The party also announced a list of 20 bills it plans to promote in the new legislative session, which starts on Tuesday next week.
The bill of the highest priority would be one requiring elected government officials to step down if they run for other positions, Hsu said.
If passed by mid-November, the bill would require Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, to relinquish his position starting the day he registers to run for president.
Such a law would not restrict people’s right to stand in election, but would require government officials to be more responsible, Huang said, adding that Hawaii, Texas and Florida have similar laws.
Other bills the NPP is to promote during the session include an anti-infiltration bill and a minimum wage bill, as well as amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例), the Mining Act (礦業法), the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and the Prison Camp Act (外役監條例), the party said.
Separately, National Taiwan University professor of economics Cheng Hsiu-ling (鄭秀玲) was sworn in as the NPP’s legislator-at-large, replacing former legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, whose NPP membership was revoked earlier this month for tarnishing the party’s image.
Green Party Taiwan in July found that two non-governmental organizations run by a former assistant of Kawlo had received NT$4 million (US$128,123 at the current exchange rate) in subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which she was supervising.
While she would only be a legislator for four months, Cheng said that she hopes to collaborate with civil groups and would focus on promoting policies on politics, education, technology and the economy.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
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BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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