Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who had been staying out of the limelight, came forward yesterday to endorse the party's Taipei and Kaohsiung candidates.
Although he withdrew from the DPP earlier this year, Lin said that the party remains the best choice and most progressive political party in the country.
"I step forward and endorse Hsieh because I affirm and recognize his efforts as former Kaohsiung mayor and premier," Lin said, while accompanying Hsieh at a campaign event yesterday in Shilin District.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, AP
Lin, one of his party's most respected elders, said he has been friends with Hsieh and the DPP's Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chu (
He said he "would extend a hand to express solidarity."
Lin will also campaign for Chen Chu in Kaohsiung, starting today.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen Chu campaign chief executive officer Chen Chi-mai (
"There are not many things that can touch people's heart now given recent political upheaval, but Lin's support for Hsieh will definitely touch many people's heart," former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said.
Fearing pan-green voters may be lukewarm about casting ballots in Saturday's elections because of recent political scandals, the DPP yesterday urged supporters to vote for its mayoral candidates.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and Central Standing Committee mem-bers also reached a resolution in yesterday's meeting that the party would start a telephone campaign to its supporters in a bid to encourage them to vote.
Yu said he would resign as chairman if the party "fails" in the elections.
Several members of the party's former New Tide faction yesterday also urged independent voters to support the DPP's Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral candidates.
Former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) told a press conference that they would like to remind Taiwan's rational citizens that only when citizens continue participating in elections and politics can the nation's democracy develop in the right direction.
"It is citizens' unshirkable responsibility to care about public affairs and cast the vote after careful thinking," he said. "It is citizens who will ultimately suffer if they try to punish [politicians or parties] by refusing to cast ballots."
He said recent opinion polls had shown that people were very dissatisfied with political parties and leaders, which should be a warning to the nation.
Lee said that he believed Hsieh and Chen are models for other politicians because they insist on DPP's core values and stand for reform and progress.
"They should not be defeated in the elections only because negative campaigning reigned during the elections and rational citizens were discouraged from casting their votes," Lee said. "This would be a pity and unfair."
"It will be a good thing for the DPP if good and right people are elected," he said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
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
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
RSS