Although Kaohsiung City is perhaps the most steadfast turf of the pan-green camp, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
"I think the pan-green candidates have been more united and have a kept a broader mind than the pan-blue candidates once they were asked to share their votes with fellow candidates," Hsieh said. "For candidates, accepting the vote-allocation strategy is just like staking all of their money on a risky business -- they will either win or lose it all."
As the legislative election campaign enters the homestretch and passions are raised to an extreme pitch by both political camps, Hsieh said that the vote allocation strategy was a sensitive topic, and all the candidates are tense about the possibility of losing their elections -- even though those who have stable poll figures.
However, in order to achieve the goal of winning a majority in the legislature, Hsieh said that he had persuaded former Kaohsiung City Government spokeswoman Kuan Pi-ling (
"It is commendable that Kuan agreed to share her votes with other pan-green candidates, as she is in the leading group," Hsieh said. "But the DPP has to win with teamwork. Only through cooperation can we control the legislature and pass bills that are beneficial to all the people."
But Kuan said that she was worried the vote allocation would make all of the candidates lose the election if any mistakes happened.
"However, now that I've promised to do it, I will just go all out and promote it with my supporters. But just remember not to make me come in last in the election list!" Kuan said with smile.
In the northern constituency of Kaohsiung City, Kuan, Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) and Lin Chin-hsing (林進興) are conducting a united campaign with TSU candidate Tsenng Tsan-teng (曾燦燈). In the southern constituency, the DPP's nominees, Tang Chin-chuan (湯金全), Huang Chao-hui (黃昭輝) and Kuo Wen-chen (郭玟成), will run a campaign with the TSU's Lo Chih-ming (羅志明), who is leading in the polls and was willing to offer his ballots to others.
All eight candidates have campaigned together in support of the vote-allocation and united campaign strategies.
Lo said that Hsieh has successfully extended the domain of the pan-green camp because of his impressive municipal achievements in Kaohsiung City.
"The recent poll found that Mayor Hsieh won 81.3 percent of citizens' support, yet Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
Chao Wen-nan (
However, Chao also admitted the election situation in Kaohisung is not entirely optimistic, since the KMT has only nominated one candidate in southern Kaohsiung and only three candidates in northern Kaohsiung, which will could spread the pan-green camp's votes relatively thin.
But Hsieh was still confident of the pan-green's election prospects, and thought that the DPP's final campaign theme "peace and happiness" had successfully differentiated the party from the pan-blue camp.
"The pan-blue camp is eating its own bitter fruit, since it has refused to concede its failure in the presidential election and its poll results are sharply declining," Hsieh said. "Lien and Soong, who have been cursing Taiwan with groundless and irrational remarks, have brought themselves bad luck because of their hatred. People don't need hatred. People need hope and happiness, which is a commitment that the DPP is willing to make to all the people of Taiwan."
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white