At a Tainan campaign rally yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called on all supporters to go to the polls on Saturday and to vote not only for her and the party’s legislative candidates, but for its at-large seats.
“Those of you who support Tsai and the DPP’s candidates must go to the polling stations and cast your ballots because many people think that the DPP is so sure of winning that it would not matter if they do not vote,” Tsai told the rally in front of the Kaitai Tianhou Temple (開台天后宮) in the city’s Anping District (安平), one of the nation’s oldest temples.
“However, we really need your votes and by casting a ballot, we are not just voting, we are also expressing our aspirations for the future,” she said.
Photo: Jui-chin, Taipei Times
All the nominees on the DPP’s at-large list are very good candidates, she said, urging the supporters to concentrate their at-large votes on the DPP.
“Please cast all your at-large votes to the DPP, do not deviate, do not divide votes [among different parties],” she said.
Tsai’s plea came amid speculations that traditional pro-DPP voters might choose to cast their at-large ballots for smaller parties — such as the New Power Party and the Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance, which share similar ideologies with the DPP — to increase diversity in the legislature and because they think the party has a large enough support base to guarantee its at-large list.
Photo: Reuters
Tsai also urged older voters to ask their children who might be working or going to school elsewhere to return home to vote.
After the rally, Tsai joined campaign parades through Tainan and Chiayi for DPP legislative candidates that drew tens of thousands of people along the route, many of who waved flags and cheered as the motorcade passed.
The Tainan parade was to stump for Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃), Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲), Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津).
“Here comes Tsai Ing-wen! President Tsai is here!” legislative candidates and campaign staffers repeated through loudspeakers as the procession made its way along the parade route, joined by more than 100 supporters on scooters.
Smiling broadly, Tsai waved to supporters, bystanders and those looking on from windows.
While DPP supporters in Tainan were enthusiastic, those in Chiayi appeared even more excited, as thousands lined up on both sides the streets, holding placards that read “I love Ing-wen” or “Taiwan’s first female president,” screaming, shouting slogans, waving their hands and making the V-shaped gesture, symbolizing both “victory” and Tsai’s candidate number, “2.”
The lines seemed endless and spread throughout the city, as opposed to the clusters seen elsewhere.
The DPP parade caused traffic jams, but drivers appeared unfazed, with some rolling down their car windows or rolling back sunroofs so they or their children could wave and cheer.
Many of the parade watchers in Tainan and Chiayi ignored regulations that bar firecrackers and fireworks from being set off in a 200m radius of a presidential candidate, and police and security officers did not intervene.
Tsai ended her day with another rally in Tainan.
She is scheduled to take part in a campaign parade through Chiayi and Yunlin counties today.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
Taiwanese prosecutors charged Tokyo Electron Ltd for failing to prevent staff from allegedly stealing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets, escalating a dispute involving two Asian linchpins of a chip industry increasingly vital to national and economic security. Prosecutors indicted the Japanese company on four counts of contravening the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法), they said in a statement yesterday. They’re asking a local court to rule in favor of their request for Tokyo Electron pay a fine of up to NT$120 million (US$3.8 million) for failing in its duty to prevent the alleged
RSS