Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday announced that he would not seek re-election next year, citing a desire to retire from politics and care for an ill family member.
Lim said in a statement that he has a family member who has been ill with “a rare disease” for two years, prompting his decision to retire.
Lim thanked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁), Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and Jocelyn Hung (洪婉臻) for demonstrating a spirit of cross-party cooperation in working with him, despite being busy preparing for next year’s elections.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
He would fully support the DPP’s candidates, he said.
“Members of the DPP and other government officials have repeatedly urged me over the past few days to reconsider, and it is with a heavy heart that I make this decision,” he said.
DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said that Lim had always been regarded as a “high-quality legislator,” who had been a partner to the DPP on many occasions.
“We regret to see Lim go, but we respect his decision. We will take his choice not to run into consideration when nominating our own candidates,” Chang said. “During his tenure, he successfully promoted many progressive bills and made possible the completion of many construction projects.”
Lim said that his constituency — Taipei’s fifth electoral district covering Zhongzheng (中正) and Wanhua (萬華) districts — is considered a challenging one, but he believes that a good candidate with new strategies and good energy could bring positive change.
“Everyone’s worry is that if I do not run, the Zhongzheng and Wanhua constituency will regress, but I believe this will open the seat up to someone with more positive energy, increasing the impetus for progress there,” he said.
Lim said his aim as a legislator had been to act as a bridge for change with the districts’ talented young people, to help them realize their vision for Taiwan.
“Bringing together young people has always been an important task for me,” he said.
In his remaining time in office, he would continue to work hard for the constituency and seek ways to work toward his goal of Taiwan being seen as a “normal country with dignity,” he said.
Lim told reporters that his decision not to run had to be made as early as possible to give the DPP time to prepare a candidate for the constituency.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) had previously expressed interest in contesting the constituency.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS