The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) aims to win at least three special municipality mayoral elections and retain all of its incumbent positions in the nine-in-one elections next year.
The KMT’s overall strategy is to retain incumbents in Miaoli, Nantou and Lienchiang counties, elect a successor to New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and to retake Taipei and one other special municipality, party sources said.
The mayoral elections for Taipei and New Taipei City are “of the highest priority” to the KMT and its goal is to win at least three mayoral elections in the nation’s six special municipalities, sources said.
The KMT is likely to finish nominating candidates for the county commissioner elections in Miaoli, Nantou and Lienchiang counties, as KMT incumbents there are expected to run for re-election, before deciding on candidates for other places, sources said.
The nomination process should be completed later this month or next month, they added.
The KMT believes that internal Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) disputes and low approval rates have rendered the DPP incumbents in Yilan, Changhua, Yunlin and Penghu counties and Chiayi City vulnerable, sources said.
Candidates for those elections are to be nominated immediately after the ones for Miaoli, Nantou and Lienchiang counties, they said.
Because the DPP’s partnership with independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is volatile, the KMT might hold off fielding a candidate in that race until it knows who the opponent will be, party sources said.
The party’s shortlist of candidates for the Taipei mayoral election include KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), former minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) and former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), they said.
Because Chu has reached the two-term limit, the KMT favors New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou Yo-yi (侯友宜) to be his successor, the sources said.
However, former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) has been making waves and might contest Hou for the candidacy, they added.
This would mean that the KMT would need to capture an additional mayoral office from the DPP — in Taichung or Taoyuan — in addition to bagging Taipei and keeping a KMT mayor in New Taipei City.
In Taichung, the KMT might be able to field a candidate without holding a primary election, as both hopefuls — KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) and Lu Hsiu-yen (盧秀燕) — have expressed willingness to support the party’s choice.
Neither Johnny Chiang nor Lu have officially committed to campaign, making it more likely that a negotiated and uncontested candidate will materialize.
KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) is rumored to be the most likely KMT candidate for Taoyuan’s mayoral election, although KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) is also a possible nominee, sources said.
The pan-green camp stronghold of Tainan has no shortage of DPP hopefuls for its mayoral election, but the KMT field is empty at the moment.
Party sources speculate that the KMT might seek an alliance with Chen Tzu-ching (陳子敬), a former police commissioner who ran as an independent for Tainan mayor in 2014.
In Kaohsiung, the KMT might draft former Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp (台北農產公司) general manager Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to be its mayoral candidate for what will be a difficult campaign, sources said.
Han was recently elected as the director of the KMT’s Kaohsiung branch office.
When asked for comment, KMT Organization and Development Department director-general Lee Che-hua (李哲華) said that the party would try to keep incumbent positions before expanding into challenging races.
“It is hard to tell who has the upper hand until the cards are down and we give our level best,” he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS