The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday announced that it would not nominate a candidate for next year’s presidential election.
The decision was reached by the party’s decisionmaking committee at a meeting earlier yesterday, NPP Secretary-General Wu Pei-yun (吳佩芸) told a news conference at party headquarters.
In the meeting, the committee also decided that the party’s priority in the upcoming general elections would be to maximize its legislative seats and to create a legislature that truly represents the public’s voice, she said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Last week, the party issued a statement that it is drafting presidential nomination regulations and that it would prioritize enlisting NPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) for the election.
The statement drew strong criticism from a number of decisionmaking committee members, who accused party headquarters of ignoring them in the decisionmaking process.
One of the committee members, Miaoli County Councilor Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學), said that whether the party nominates a presidential candidate should first be discussed by the committee.
Meanwhile, Huang denied having any interest in running for president next year.
Asked to explain the shift from considering drafting Huang to not nominating any presidential candidate, Wu yesterday said that the NPP must be responsible to its supporters.
In the 2016 general elections, the NPP received 740,000, or 6.1 percent, of party votes, earning it the option of nominating its own candidate in the next presidential election, she said.
The votes meant that voters placed great hopes on the NPP, which must respond to such expectations, she added.
Asked who the NPP would support in the presidential election, Wu said that the party would discuss the issue at its national convention.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS