Another party member who lost in Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) primaries for the December legislative elections yesterday announced his intention to run in the election at the expense of his party membership.
The declaration of former legislator Fang Yi-liang (
Among them are Legislator Tseng Tsai Mei-tso (
`To the very end'
Legislator-at-large Lee Ho-shun (
Fang, from the Tainan County constituency, called into question the legitimacy of the primary system's opinion poll and demanded the party reveal what he claimed should have been "the true poll result."
The KMT's primary included two components. The first consisted of votes by party members, which carried a weight of 30 percent.
The second component, a public opinion poll, carried a weight of 70 percent.
This was the first time that such a method had been used in the party's primary to decide who would be recommended for the party's nominations.
authority
In view of some party members' insistence on running despite their failure to secure the party's nomination, some members called on the party to exercise authority and party discipline to get the situation under control, while others urged the party authorities to examine the primary system as a whole for improvement.
"What is the point of holding primaries if the result is that one can run [in the elections] even without the party's nomination?" said KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (
Taipei City Councilor Wang Hao (
Others directed their criticism at the party's Huang Fu Hsing (
Huang Fu Hsing is a special branch of the KMT whose members are military veterans or their family members.
high mobility
Due to the high mobility of the Huang Fu Hsing branch members, Chen said that party members who took part in the primary were mostly members of the branch.
Candidates supported by the branch, as a result, were likely to garner high numbers of votes in the primaries.
Saying that there were big gaps demonstrated in the primaries between the results of the party members' votes and the results of the opinion polls, Chen said that this also illustrated the big gap between party opinion and public opinion.
"The primary has much room for reform and improvement. Otherwise, it will be hard to meet the expectations of the general public," Chen said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS