Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that it is still too early to say who he would team up with for the Nov. 24 local elections, but confirmed that a close aide has resigned from their post to become his first campaign assistant.
Ko yesterday morning attended a campaign event held by People First Party (PFP) Taipei city councilors Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成) and Hung Shih-chi (洪士奇), giving rise to speculation about whether he might seek a coalition with the party in the nine-in-one elections.
He also attended New Power Party (NPP) Taipei city councilor candidate Hsiao Hsin-cheng’s (蕭新晟) campaign office opening last month.
Photo: CNA
Political observers have speculated that Ko would continue to cooperate with candidates of smaller parties.
When asked if he would form a coalition with the PFP, Ko said that he would try to attend any campaign event and support any councilor candidate that invited him, time permitting.
“My basic strategy is to have more friends and fewer enemies,” he said. “I am willing to show my support if the person is a suitable candidate.”
Asked about the possibility of him “sharing the [campaign] stage” with PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), Ko said that he visits Soong about every one or two months.
Soong appears to have no intention of running in elections ever again, so his advice seems more objective, Ko said.
Asked about an announcement on Facebook last week that he is recruiting people for his campaign team and a rumor that a mayoral office employee had resigned to join the team, Ko said: “It sounds a little shabby, but there is only one person sitting in my campaign office right now.”
Ke Yu-an (柯昱安) has become the first member of his campaign team, Ko said.
Ke had been managing his social media accounts, which is almost like assisting his election campaign, Ko said, adding that he decided to let him work at his campaign office to avoid being accused of using public resources for election purposes.
Asked about applications for other campaign aide positions, Ko said that his close aides have been reading resumes, but he had no further details yet.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS