The KMT predicts it will garner 90 to 92 seats in the legislative elections. That estimate includes 17 legislators at-large and three overseas legislators. The party is fielding 97 candidates for the constituency races and expects to win 70 to 72 seats.
The party's Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
Lin said KMT candidates for local elections are leading opinion polls in Taoyuan, Yunlin, Hualien and Penghu counties, Hsinchu and Taichung cities and Kinmen.
PHOTO: SHING TING-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lin also said that the KMT will focus on calling for unity within the "pan-blue" camp -- which includes the KMT, PFP and New Party -- in the last 10 days of the campaign.
"If the pan-blue camp supporters don't concentrate their votes on the KMT, the DPP will certainly reap the windfall," Lin said.
People First Party Secretary-General David Chung (
"The PFP will not only grab 40 to 45 legislative seats, but will also make some breakthroughs in mayor and commissioner elections," Chung said.
Sandwiched between the ruling DPP, which has strong political resources, the KMT and the New Party, which call on pan-blue supporters to "return" to their fold, the PFP is playing its two trump cards -- promoting its party image and appealing to voters in order to translate support for party chairman James Soong (
Chung said that even though some PFP candidates face tough fights because of low popularity, the PFP will not resort to underhanded antics.
Instead, Chung emphasized, the PFP will present the party's real essence and invite the public to work with the party to launch political and economic reforms by sending its candidates into the Legislative Yuan.
Soong's stance on the issues that concern voters the most -- the crackdown on "black-gold," peace between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait and economic reforms -- are more popular among voters than those of DPP President Chen Shui-bian (
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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