The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) was the biggest winner in yesterday's by-election for Kaohsiung City councilors. However, a mockery was made of the city's electoral politics as Kaohsiung's vote-buying culture proved that it is alive and well with the election of Chu Ting-shan (朱挺珊), who ran in the by-election on behalf of her father, Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), a former city council speaker who has been convicted of vote-buying.
Three of the TSU's four candidates were elected in yesterday's by-election, which, added to the election of six Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates, gives the pan-green camp the majority of seats in the Kaohsiung City Council.
Political analysts yesterday said that the TSU's excellent performance was due to its strategy of headhunting former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilors with solid grassroots support, as well as the consolidation of the pro-independence vote.
Chuang Chi-ming (
Chiu Kuo-chen (
Cheng Cheng-iok (鄭正煜), executive director of Taiwan Southern Society (南社), said yesterday that the pan-green camp's becoming the majority has presented a critical choice for "swing" politicians who must choose between the pan-green and the pan-blue camp.
"This by-election reveals that Taiwanese identity has become mainstream opinion and started to take root since the presidential election. This tendency will grow and strengthen in the year-end legislative elections and gradually drive out the colonial remnants of the pro-unification China-centric ideology," Cheng said.
However, the by-election yesterday was marred by a return of corrupt political forces, with the election of three candidates with family ties to former councilors convicted of taking NT$5 million bribes from Chu An-hsiung in the election for council speaker.
Three of the nine candidates from the bribe-taking families were elected. They are, in addition to Chu Ting-shan, Tsai Wu-nan (
Chu Ting-shan and Tsai Wu-nan ran independent campaigns, while Chen represented the KMT. All three come from Kaohsiung's 5th electoral district, an older area and a stronghold of Kaohsiung's traditional industries.
Chiu said the success of the three candidates from the bribe-taking families resulted from the special features of the area, where support for candidates comes from traditional grassroots connection networks.
The three candidates from the bribe-taking families nominated by the DPP all failed in yesterday's by-election, reflecting Kaohsiung residents' high expectations for the DPP, which has long claimed to be a beacon of democracy and a pioneer in the country's democratic development.
DPP Deputy Secretary-general Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday expressed appreciation to Kaohsiung voters, as six of the DPP's 10 candidates were elected -- but said the DPP took note of the voters' not having elected the three DPP candidates with ties to bribe-takers.
The lone Aboriginal seat at stake was won by the DPP's Ateng Ingay (
Cheng said Ateng Ingay's win is historic in Kaohsiung's political arena and that Aboriginal political culture, which is traditionally known for its close ties to the pan-blue camp, has made a breakthrough.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with