The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to present a new main campaign message for the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections in hopes of energizing its base, a DPP official said yesterday.
“Reform for the next generation” was the campaign message the party had rolled out in July.
However, due to a perceived lack of enthusiasm, the DPP leadership, in a bid to energize the party base, is planning to present “no backtrack from reforms” and “protect Taiwan together” as the new campaign slogans, a senior party official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Photo: Su Fang-ho, Taipei Times
The new campaign message would resonate with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) address on Double Ten National Day, they said.
The DPP has lost ground in opinion polls, with margins narrowing even in Kaohsiung, which has for a long time reliably voted for the DPP, the official said.
In light of such developments, energizing and motivating the base tops the agenda for DPP strategists, who are increasingly looking to attack as a way to wrest control of the debate from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the official added.
The DPP legislative caucus has held a series of news conferences to slam the KMT over its alleged forgery of signatures on referendum petitions.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) has also maintained high visibility on the campaign trail with hard-pressed DPP candidates, stumping for hopefuls in Miaoli County and helping to coordinate the DPP’s strategy in Yilan County.
The DPP Youth Organization yesterday launched a campaign team of young political appointees who are to act as “campaign surrogates” for DPP candidates.
The DPP governs 13 counties and cities, and mayoral elections in the special municipalities of Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung are deemed safe, DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said yesterday.
However, the party faces a tough race for the commissionership in Yilan County, while Changhua County and Chiayi City are toss-ups, he said.
The DPP aims to wrest New Taipei City from the KMT and it also has high hopes for Taitung County, he added.
Asked whether the campaign surrogates could compromise the political neutrality of government administration, Hung said that all officials assisting campaigns have taken leaves of absence.
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
First-time politician Mai Yamada’s (山田摩衣) Japanese name has attracted attention in Chinese-language media after her win in the New Taipei City Council election on Saturday. Born to a Taiwanese mother and Japanese father, the 32-year-old Taiwanese-Japanese stood out after becoming one of nine elected city councilors in Banciao District (板橋) in the nation’s local government elections on Saturday. Although she has a Japanese name, she grew up and was educated in Taiwan, Yamada said, adding that “Taiwan is my home.” Before running for local government, Yamada, who speaks fluent Japanese and English, was Legislative Speaker You Si-kun’s (游錫堃) secretary. She has been involved in
Mask easing: Teachers are allowed to take their masks off while lecturing indoors, but students should keep theirs on, as COVID-19 measures ease this week The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday released new on-campus COVID-19 prevention guidelines, stating that masks can be taken off while exercising, singing, dancing, performing, taking photographs, dining, drinking, video and voice recording, hosting events, presenting speeches and lecturing outdoors. Large outdoor events organized by schools should comply with the mask regulations issued by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), it added. The new guidelines came into effect yesterday, and people in Taiwan are no longer required to wear masks outdoors for the first time since May 19 last year. The CECC announced the easing of the mask mandate on Monday, adding that it
CROSS-PARTY SUPPORT: For the amendment to pass, 50% of all eligible voters would have had to support the initiative, with about 9.62 million ‘yes’ votes cast Non-governmental organizations and student groups expressed disappointment on Saturday evening at the failure of a referendum that would have lowered the voting age in Taiwan from 20 to 18, and they hinted at other steps to address the issue. The referendum, which asked voters to approve a proposed constitutional amendment granting voting rights to citizens aged 18 and over along with the right to run for office, was held in conjunction with local government elections on Saturday. The referendum fell short of the threshold — nearly 9.62 million “yes” votes — needed to pass, as only 5.65 million voters backed the proposed
‘SEXUAL ASSAULT’: Taipei prosecutors said that cooperation agreements between Taiwan and the Czech Republic grant Czech officials protection against prosecution The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday reaffirmed that it would not charge a Czech official with sexual assault because he is protected by diplomatic immunity. The office released a statement saying it has verified that the man works for the Czech Economic and Cultural Office Taipei’s foreign affairs corps and is thereby protected from criminal prosecution. A foreign graduate student in Taiwan had filed a complaint alleging that the section head of the Czech Economic and Trade Section had sexually assaulted her on April 21 last year. The woman said the Czech official had invited her to his home and then forced her
RSS