While the KMT has been trailing behind its rivals in garnering the support of younger voters, it is now trying to turn the tables with a signature drive that began yesterday.
In light drizzle, hundreds of college students stood in front of KMT headquarters, opposite the Presidential Office, to witness the drive's launch and solicit signatures from Taiwan's youth to show their support for Lien Chan (
Lai Kuo-chou (賴國洲), 47, head of the KMT's department of youth affairs which organized the program -- speaking slang and dancing on a temporary stage -- encouraged young people to endorse Lien.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG
Organizers expect 300,000 people to sign in the six weeks of signature solicitation, which will run until Dec. 25.
"That number could go up to a million," Lai said.
The activity is more than an invitation for young voters to put their names on the "Lien Chan identification card (3s戰認|P卡)," he said. "It is also an activity to encourage young people to write down their opinions and suggestions."
"It will be an opportunity to understand young people and anyone who offers suggestions will be answered," he said.
"Those who present particularly interesting opinions will be invited to attend a panel discussion to exchange ideas with Lien Chan himself," Lai said.
Young voters do not represent a KMT support base in elections. Many opinion polls have shown that among the 20-to-29 age group, Lien has a support level of around 15 percent, while independent candidate James Soong (
"Young people are the more idealistic and critical element of any society. The KMT as a long-time ruling party, suffers particular criticism. This fact must be recognized," Lai said. "But if there is better communication between the KMT and [Taiwan's youth], they will understand that we are carrying out reforms. I believe they will support and join us," Lai said.
KMT opponents, however, were less optimistic.
"[The KMT's signature drive] is not going to work," said Lee Hong-yuan (
"Young people tend to be idealistic, reform-driven and dynamic. Lien's image is very distant from these characteristics," said Luo Ya-mei (?雅美), deputy director of the DPP's youth development department.
"Instead of just handing out cards, there should be other ways to persuade young people to support Lien," said Han Kun-chu (
"What is more important is what is done after getting signatures," said Chiu Yu-di (裘?芫
In their efforts to gain young people's support, the two other campaign bodies have sponsored training seminars for young volunteers on university campuses.
These students are meant to be the "seeds" of support bases on campuses, campaign officials said.
But most support for Soong stems from his personal charisma rather than campaign efforts, Lee said.
The DPP's Luo said her party will offer policies addressing young people's concerns, such as education, employment and housing loans.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS