The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday approved a motion to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑), setting Oct. 13 for a by-election.
Civic groups on March 8 began a campaign to recall Hsieh, saying that he had failed in the role.
They said that Hsieh abused his power to benefit the Breeze Group, which is run by the family of his ex-girlfriend Michelle Liao (廖曉喬), by ordering police to break into Keelung E-Square Mall to complete a handover.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
NET Fashion Development Corp disputed the rights of operation of the mall by Breeze Group, who won the bid. NET Fashion Development filed a lawsuit against Hsieh and the city government, accusing them of breaking and entering, as operating rights were still being disputed in court.
Asked whether the recall was politically motivated, Hsieh said that the right to recall has become a tool to overturn election results.
Such habits should not be allowed to continue, he said, urging Keelung residents to vote to prevent continued abuse of recalls.
The KMT in a statement questioned the neutrality of the CEC, citing CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung’s (李進勇) “open support” for the recall campaign.
Hsieh has worked hard to govern Keelung, the KMT said, adding that his decisions regarding the Breeze Group were in full compliance with the law and safeguarded the property of Keelung residents.
The court has ruled in favor of the Keelung City Government in all three trials to date regarding the mall, showing that the city is in the right, the KMT said.
The KMT criticized President William Lai (賴清德) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lin You-chang (林右昌), accusing them of impartiality for their support of the recall movement.
The DPP plans to mobilize and launch multiple recall motions in the hope of unseating enough legislators to regain its legislative majority, the KMT said, adding that Keelung residents should not allow that to happen.
Separately, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said that the party respected Keelung residents’ exercise of their rights.
The DPP has been clear in its stance on the issue, Wu told reporters.
The DPP and the Keelung City Council are continuing their inspection of Hsieh’s faults in governance and whether he is attempting to make improvements to oversight of the city government, Wu said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS