Taichung legislative candidate Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) yesterday criticized fellow candidate Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) for suggesting they use English to debate next month’s referendum questions.
During a campaign event on Sunday in Wufeng District (霧峰), former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) proposed that the two candidates have a one-on-one debate on the four referendum questions.
Asked if she was brave enough for the “showdown,” Lin Ching-yi replied: “No problem. I can also do it in English.”
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
After an enthusiastic response from the crowd, Lin Chia-lung said that Yen could choose whichever language he wants for the debate: English, Chinese or Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
The candidates are running in a by-election on Jan. 9 to replace Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟), a former Taiwan Statebuilding Party legislator for Taichung’s second electoral district who was recalled last month.
Yen, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member who held the seat before Chen, hit back yesterday during an interview, asking in Hoklo if the people of Taichung’s second district want to hear a debate in English.
“Lin Ching-yi still thinks she is an at-large legislator,” unaware that she is running to represent a local district with local needs, Yen said.
However, he added that he is up for the challenge, if the debate is on the needs or future of the district.
Lin Ching-yi gave an enthusiastic response on Facebook, saying they should debate the referendum questions in Hoklo.
When deliberating the
Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program in the legislature last term, Lin Ching-yi said that she worked hard to prepare questions and understand the bill, which had significant ramifications for individual constituents.
“Maybe my opponent was busy with water balloons and flour,” she said, referring to the chaos that followed a failed KMT filibuster of the bill in 2017.
The Legislative Yuan does not need another lawmaker looking to throw things around, but a professional who has the people’s best interests in mind, she added.
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