The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday it is fully prepared for Saturday’s legislative by-elections, urging the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) not to stoop to vote-buying but to run a clean and fair race.
Two of the three seats up for grabs this Saturday in Taoyuan, Taichung and Taitung counties were left vacant by former KMT legislators found guilty of vote-buying.
“We call on the KMT candidates to fight a dignified battle by breaking with the KMT’s tradition of buying votes. We also urge prosecutors to monitor the races closely to prevent any chance of vote-buying,” DPP spokeswoman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said.
The Taoyuan County Second District spot became vacant in October after the KMT’s Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) lost his seat following a conviction on vote-buying charges.
RIVAL
The KMT nominated former lawyer Chen Li-ling (陳麗玲) as its candidate to face off against the DPP’s Kuo Jung-chung (郭榮宗), a former lawmaker.
The Taichung legislative by-election will fill the seat left vacant when former KMT legislator Chiang Lien-fu (江連福) lost his seat, also on vote-buying charges.
Taiping Mayor Yu Wen-chin (余文欽) has been chosen to run against the DPP’s Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟).
KMT Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭) resigned in October to run in last month’s Taitung County commissioner election, making him the seventh lawmaker in the current legislature to fail to complete his legislative term.
The KMT nominated Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) to run in the county’s by-election for his spot. That prompted claims by the DPP that the nomination was a trade-off for Kuang agreeing not to seek re-election as county commissioner.
Kuang’s DPP rival is Lai Kun-cheng (賴坤成).
IN PERSPECTIVE
Hsiao said given that none of the three locations had ever elected a DPP legislator, if the DPP can win even one of the seats it will indicate that the party has made a comeback.
If the DPP wins just one seat, it will put the number of DPP lawmakers at 28 — one seat short of the over one-quarter threshold required to launch a presidential recall motion.
The DPP’s morale has improved following the party’s performance in last month’s county commissioner and mayoral elections, where it nabbed Yilan County, a key battleground viewed by both camps as a gauge of popularity nationwide.
Another three legislative by-elections are scheduled for Feb. 27 for Hualien County, Taoyuan County’s Third District and Hsinchu County.
Ahead of the polls, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been zigzagging the country along with other DPP heavyweights since last week to encourage voters to support the pan-green camp.
On the other hand, Tsai’s pan-blue counterpart, President and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), has stayed relatively quiet.
After the KMT failed to win big last month, some political commentators said Ma had lost his “Midas touch” and was bad news for candidates.
‘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
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
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
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