One of the leaders of the Sunflower movement Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) on Tuesday night announced his intention to run in the legislative by-election as an independent in Miaoli County.
The by-election, which is to be held on Feb. 7 next year, will decide the seat being vacated by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), who recently won the race for Miaoli County commissioner in the Nov. 29 elections.
Hsu’s successor will have little time in office, as the KMT lawmaker’s term ends in January 2016.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Chen, one of the leading figures during the Sunflower movement’s 23-day occupation of the legislature’s main chamber earlier this year, posted on Facebook that he entered the race to counter the policies of Hsu and his predecessor, outgoing KMT Miaoli county commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻).
As a long-term opponent of Liu, Chen spearheaded several social movements in Miaoli, including a prolonged campaign against the seizure and demolition of private homes in Dapu Borough (大埔) last year.
“Under the devastation caused by Liu Cheng-hung, the fiscal condition of Miaoli lags behind the entire country,” Chen said.
“The very moment our future commissioner Hsu Yao-chang won the election, he publicly pledged that many controversial development projects during Liu’s term would be continued,” Chen added. “Land expropriation regulations have also remained unchanged.”
Although Miaoli ranks among the few places in which the KMT won by a large margin in the recent elections, Chen said that an increasing number of Miaoli youth were willing to work for reform through social movements.
“The meaning of this race is to call on Miaoli’s younger generation to actively take responsibility while humbly listening to voices from our native county,” Chen said, citing experience in local grassroots organizations since 2008.
If elected, Chen said he would monitor President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to follow through on demands made by the Sunflower movement, including a halt to the cross-strait service trade agreement and the passage of legislation on an oversight mechanism for future cross-strait agreements.
In concert with Taiwan March, a youth activist group Chen co-founded with fellow Sunflower activist Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Academia Sinica researcher Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), Chen said he would also make reforming the Referendum Act (公民投票法) a priority.
Chen dismissed concerns that his unfulfilled mandatory military service might pose difficulties for him holding public office, saying that conscription can be postponed as long as he still holds student status, which will remain effective through 2018.
Chen is a graduate student in sociology at National Tsing Hua University.
Although the Central Election Commission said that current regulations do not bar candidates from entering races before fulfilling military service, officials said Chen’s application might face challenges if he were pronounced guilty in ongoing trials related to his involvement in the Sunflower movement.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it is willing to remain “flexible” in its arrangements for nominating a candidates for the upcoming by-elections, including potential cooperation with independent candidates in “constituencies with unique circumstances,” spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
Because Miaoli has traditionally been a “deep-blue” KMT stronghold, widespread media speculation has risen as to whether the DPP would be willing to support Chen in a similar fashion to Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who received the DPP’s support as an independent.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) also expressed support for Chen, saying that he would be glad to stump for him.
“Society today belongs to the younger generation,” Lee said. “All our institutions should allow space for young people to flourish, instead of obstructing them.”
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