Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) urged her not to be manipulated by “some political party” as she begins to collect signatures for her presidential bid.
Speaking to reporters after a closed-door meeting with Cho, Lu said that she had responded: “How is that possible?”
She did not say which political party Cho was referring to.
Over the past few months, many political parties have asked her to run for president, said Lu, who on Tuesday registered as an independent candidate with her running mate, former Nantou County commissioner Peng Pai-hsien (彭百顯).
How could she ask other political parties not to collect signatures for her, Lu asked.
“Why does the DPP not collect signatures for me?” she said. “Of course, it would be impossible for the DPP.”
She added that she welcomes the support of all political parties.
During their meeting, Cho told her that the DPP hopes to win the support of more young people and collaborate with them more, Lu said.
Lu said she told him that she would be pleased if everyone supported the best political party and voted for the best leader.
“If the DPP were more democratic, more progressive ... everyone who cares about Taiwan’s democracy would love it to death,” she said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) still has an opportunity to be re-elected, but she needs to listen to the people more, Lu said.
Lu added that she hopes Tsai would not treat her as an opponent, but rather as her “best friend.”
Asked about a comment by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), for whom she served as vice president for eight years, that the time had passed for her to run for president, Lu said that Chen was last year encouraging her to join the race.
“Have I aged a lot because of one more year?” she asked.
Lu and Peng have until Nov. 2 to collect 280,384 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Additional reporting by CNA
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
RSS