The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) decision to focus vote allocation efforts only on its party's candidates was greeted with surprise by the KMT's ally the People First Party (PFP) yesterday, highlighting a split in the pan-blue alliance in this year's legislative election campaign.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
While Lin only hinted that the party was making plans for KMT candidates exclusively, party spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
"As of yet, the PFP and the KMT have still not merged. We are coordinating separate legislative efforts," Chang said yesterday.
The KMT's plans seem to contradict an agreement made earlier this month with the PFP to establish an election campaign coordination center to organize the election efforts of all pan-blue candidates.
Speaking at rally for incumbent PFP legislative hopeful Pan Chien-kuo (
"What right do these people [Lin] have to say such things?" Soong said.
Soong, who had just called for the pan-blue alliance to work on vote distribution as a team earlier yesterday, criticized the KMT for thinking only of only itself.
"The KMT has only the `Ma camp' [political supporters of Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)] and the `Wang camp' [supporters of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平)] in mind, not the pan-blue camp," Soong said.
The vote allocation system was first used by the KMT's rival the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The system involves requesting individual supporters to vote for specific individual candidates. The system aims to maximize the number of candidates elected per party in the current "multi-member district, single vote" electoral system, by seeking a relatively even distribution of votes for each candidate.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien made the remarks at the inauguration of the campaign office of KMT legislative candidate Chu Chun-hsiao (
Currently, the nation faces five problems, according to Lien. First and foremost is its national identity, he said, adding that the name of the Republic of China needs no change and neither does the Constitution, as has been advocated by the DPP.
He also noted that both sides of the Taiwan Strait need peaceful relations and he advocated the signing of a 50-year peace agreement with the other side of the Strait.
Taiwan's democratic development needs further strengthening, Lien said, adding that the executive branch needs to maintain neutrality, with an independent judicial system and freedom of speech.
The various ethnic groups should be able to live in harmony and equality, and there should be no incitement of ethnic rivalry in election campaigns, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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