A pro-Taiwan alliance has begun its drive to recruit politicians loyal to former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The alliance's goal is electoral victory," said Huang Chu-wen (黃主文), a Lee loyalist and former minister of the interior. Huang added that a list of the group's members would be made public in July.
Chen Chien-ming (
Liu and Ho said they were still thinking over wether to join the group, adding that their decision would be based on the "DPP's understanding or unspoken consent." Both Liu and Ho had plans to run for public office, but failed to win their party's support in the DPP's primary in April. Liu said the alliance's prospects looked bright, and that "a total of some five or six million votes could be secured if Lee and Chen join forces."
Liu made the estimate based on the 5.5 million votes Lee won in the 1996 presidential election and the 2.2 million votes that went to the DPP's candidate, Peng Min-min (
Liu also said yesterday that the alliance's electoral strategy would be to nominate just one candidate in each constituency and to focus on winning 35 seats, including legislator-at-large.
Ho, meanwhile, said that joining an alliance close to Lee would allow him to attract former DPP supporters and would provide him a second chance to run for public office.
"The alliance has made it very clear that they will support A-bian and forge a strong political force, with some 35 legislative seats to assist the DPP government. That explains my leaving the DPP," Ho said. Echoing Ho's view, DPP legislative whip Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜) said yesterday that "the alliance was likely to join hand in hand with the DPP after the elections." Lin added that an inter-party reorganization would likely occur after the elections, and that the DPP would form a coalition government with the alliance.
"It is also possible that these two will merge as a new political party," he said.
Independent legislator Jao yesterday flatly declined the alliance's invitation to join the group, saying that "he has no intentions of joining any alliance which was likely to provoke ideological and ethnic confrontation."
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
PETITIONS: A Democratic Progressive Party official quoted President William Lai as saying that civil society groups are organizing the recall drives at the grassroots level Some civil society groups yesterday announced that they have collected enough signatures to pass the first-stage threshold to initiate a recall vote against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in 18 constituencies nationwide, saying that they would submit the signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC) today. They also said that they expected to pass the threshold in eight more constituencies in the coming days, meaning the number of KMT legislators facing a recall vote could reach 26. The groups set up stations to collect signatures at local marketplaces and busy commercial districts. The legislators their petition drives target include Fu
RSS