The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Central Executive Committee yesterday agreed unanimously to postpone an extraordinary national congress, originally scheduled for Saturday, to later this year.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told the press the extraordinary session had been delayed so that it would more or less coincide with the party's annual national congress.
It is anticipated that the congress will be held at some point between next month and September.
Yu said that the committee reached the agreement on the postponement because it was difficult to mobilize its national representatives for anything other than an election campaign.
According to a recent telephone poll of representatives, very few were interested in attending the extraordinary congress, Yu said.
Details of the annual congress, however, were still being finalized, he said.
The party is obliged to hold an extraordinary session because of a proposal to change the legislative candidate selection process initiated by committee member Huang Ching-lin (
The DPP also announced the names of 56 district legislative nominees yesterday.
Yu said the DPP had reserved nine seats for individuals outside the party and six others for independent or figures from other parties cooperating with the DPP.
The public opinion polls for DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) and former legislator Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟), both of whom are competing in Taichung County's third district, need to be held again because of a procedural flaw in the selection of polling companies, Yu said.
The poll rating accounts for 70 percent of a would-be candidate's final "score," while the party-member vote early last month made up the remaining 30 percent.
The nomination announcement for Kaohsiung's third district, where Legislator Peter Lin (林進興) defeated Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤), was postponed because Lin has been indicted for defrauding the Bureau of National Health Insurance of NT$190 million (US$5.7 million) by making false insurance claims.
The party's Central Disciplinary Committee has yet to decide whether to suspend his membership, Yu said.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
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