Five pairs of candidates drew lots yesterday at the Central Election Commission (CEC) to determine the order their names will appear on the ballots for the March 18 presidential election -- the last formal procedure before the official campaign period begins on Feb. 19.
All the presidential and vice-presidential candidates -- except the KMT's Lien Chan (
The coveted number 1 position was drawn by independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) and his running mate Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), who were also first to pick.
Soong immediately shouted his lucky slogan, "Taiwan is the first and we will lead in the forefront" (
DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and running mate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) were the second pair to draw and they pulled "5." "Five means that in the fifth month of the year [May] we will be the new presidential team," Chen said.
The third pair to draw was the KMT's Lien-Siew ticket, but only vice presidential hopeful Vincent Siew (
"President Lee Teng-hui (
New Party candidate Li Ao (
"According to the official history of the ROC, there were five other presidents, starting with Yuan Shih-kai (
Feng criticized Lien's absence, saying he was showing his disrespect for the CEC and setting a bad example for democracy.
But Lien's spokesman dismissed Feng's criticism, saying the vice-president was with grassroot supporters in Taoyuan County.
There was no surprise about the number the last pair to draw received. Independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang (
Following the draw the candidates made speeches to their supporters, declaring the start of their campaigns even though the official campaign period doesn't begin until 30 days before the election -- this Saturday.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
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