The next presidential and legislative elections are to be held on Jan. 13 next year, the Central Election Commission announced yesterday.
Candidate registration would take place from Nov. 20 to Nov. 24, it said, adding that it would review the eligibility of prospective presidential and vice presidential candidates by Dec. 5, and announce the candidate list on Dec. 15.
Televised policy platforms for the candidates would be conducted between Dec. 16 and Jan. 12, it said.
Photo: Wong Yu-huang, Taipei Times
The date for the presidential election is in line with the precedent set when the presidential election was moved to January in 2012 to align with the legislative elections.
For the legislative elections, candidacy reviews would be completed by Dec. 15, with the final list posted on Jan. 2, it said.
Public policy presentations for the candidates would be held from Jan. 3 to Jan. 12, it added.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members yesterday called for solidarity after a poll conducted by Broadcasting Corp of China and Gallup showed that potential KMT nominees would have the least support.
Assuming that New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) runs for president, and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) enters the race as Hou’s running mate, the poll showed the duo would be the least popular among voters of the three parties represented in the poll.
A source within the KMT said the results showed that party members must demonstrate better unity and stronger resolve to be a truly “non-green party force.”
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said he was “shocked” by the results, and said it proved that the KMT could not “rest on its laurels” following its victory in last year’s local elections.
The Democratic Progressive Party under party Chairman William Lai (賴清德) demonstrated success in last week’s legislative by-election in Nantou County, and the party should not be underestimated in the presidential election, he said.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching