KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The post was left vacant by KMT incumbent, Chang fu-hsiung (
"Basically both the KMT and the PFP had reached the conclusion to together nominate one candidate for the by-election in Hualien," PFP spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
He added that the meeting between Soong and Lien yesterday was just part of the alliance's routine meetings.
"However, to show our respect for Chang, the alliance will not announce our candidate till the end of this month, after Chang's funeral," Hwang said.
Chang was diagnosed with lung cancer late last year and had been undergoing chemotherapy at the Veteran's General Hospital since March.
He was rushed home last Sunday night from the National Taiwan University Hospital after his condition became critical. Chang died at home.
According to the Law on Local Government Systems (
Chang, who started his four-year tenure in December 2001, had 31 more months left before the end of his term.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced on Tuesday that Provincial Governor Fan Kuang-chun (范光群) will serve as acting commissioner of Hualien County until a new government chief is elected.
As both the pan-green and the pan-blue camps are vying for the vacant post, the by-election can be seen as a crucial skirmish for the KMT-PFP alliance in the run-up to next March's presidential election.
The by-election in Hualien will test the combined vote-pulling strength of the two opposition parties, which announced their alliance three months ago.
Yesterday's meeting took place at the KMT-owned Pate Building -- the alliance's designated campaign headquarters for next year's presidential election for which Lien and Soong will run on a single ticket.
Aside from issues concerning the Hualien County magistrate's election, Hwang said that other matters discussed during the meeting included extending the Legislative Yuan session in order to pass the NT$50 billion job-creation program proposed by the Cabinet.
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Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
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