Twenty-three years since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost power in Chiayi City, Saturday's election presents what is widely regarded as the best chance the party has had for a long time to win back the city. A tough fight is in store for the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) if it wants to keep control of this traditionally anti-KMT city.
According to assessments made by both camps a week before the elections, Mayor Chen Li-jen (陳麗貞), the DPP candidate, and KMT Legislator Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠), are running neck-and-neck.
Lin Hung-chan (林宏展), a spokesman at Chen's election headquarters, told the Taipei Times yesterday that Chen was lying just 3 points behind Huang according to a recent DPP poll, while KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (鄭麗文) regarded the DPP's evaluation as "very optimistic to say the least."
"Huang has been in the lead for quite a while and she remains a stable frontrunner as she has good grass-roots support," Cheng said.
Four years ago, as an independent candidate, Chen easily beat the other four candidates with 44.84 percent of the vote, compared to 34.71 percent for the KMT candidate, Chiang Ching-hsien (江清馦), and 12.04 percent for the DPP's Huang Cheng-nan (黃正男).
Chen's victory also marked the first time that residents of Chiayi had elected a candidate who was not part of Hsu Shih-hsien's (許世賢) family, the so-called "Hsu Band" (許家班), since Hsu, the first female mayor in Taiwan's history, was elected mayor in 1982.
In the 2001 mayoral race, Chen was deputy mayor. He succeeded Chang Po-ya's (張博雅) as mayor after Chang was called into service as part of the DPP Cabinet.
Chen then joined the DPP in 2003 and won the party's primary election this May. Her transition from "Hsu Band" member to DPP candidate has inevitably diminished the influence of the "Hsu Band" in the city over the past few years.
Chiayi is said to be the only city in the country where local politics are still dominated by independent factions rather than party factions.
Hsu's legacy remains strong though and was an obvious factor for Chang Po-ya and Chang Wen-yin (張文英), both Hsu's daughters, when they ran for and won the mayorship a total of four times.
Hsu, who served as a member of the first Chiayi City council before going on to serve four-terms as a provincial assemblywoman during the era when the former KMT government repressed those fighting for democracy, helped earn the city the title of "a sanctuary of democracy."
Despite the fact that the DPP's involvement in recent scandals has not harmed Chen's campaign, appealing to the public as a defender of the city's democratic traditions will surely gain Chen more support, Lin said.
Chiayi City candidates
* Chen Li-jen
* Democratic Progressive Party
* Year born: 1958
* Education: Masters degree in environmental medicine, Chinese Medicine University
* Positions held: Director-general of Environmental Protection Bureau of Chiayi City; Director of Department of Health of Executive Yuan; deputy mayor of Chiayi City; mayor of Chiayi City.
* Huang Ming-hui
* Chinese Nationalist Party
* Year born: 1959
* Education: Executive MBA, National Chiayi University
* Positions held: Teacher at Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls' High School; National Assembly Representative; legislator
Source: Taipei Times
‘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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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