Jhongli Deputy Mayor Lin Hsiang-mei (林香美) yesterday said she was quitting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after alleging on Monday that the party had deceived her during the nomination process for next month’s Taoyuan County legislative by-election.
The KMT nominated former KMT legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) as its candidate for the by-election, scheduled for Feb. 27.
Lin yesterday told a press conference that she would run in the election, adding that she would push for reform via a “middle way.”
On Monday, Lin and Taoyuan County Councilor Wu Yu-tung (吳餘東) alleged they were misled by their party during the nomination process.
Lin had registered her candidacy before the KMT nominated Chen as its candidate.
Rebutting the allegations, the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee issued a statement, saying they “did not tally with the facts” and that Lin and Wu “twisted” what had happened.
At the time, the KMT threatened to expel from the party individuals defying a party ban from registering if they did not drop out by Friday.
The committee said initial negotiations between aspiring candidates were handled by local “heavyweights” and the party headquarters was not involved.
Opinion polls conducted by the KMT headquarters showed that Jhongli Mayor Ye Bu-liang (葉步樑) topped the list, followed by Lin, Chen and Wu Yu-tung, the statement said.
During the initial negotiation process, the statement said, the party was considering nominating Chen if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were to select former DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) as its flag bearer. The party would nominate Ye or Lin if the DPP named current Taoyuan County Councilor Huang Jen-chu (黃仁杼) as its candidate, it said.
The DPP eventually nominated Huang, but the KMT negotiations broke down. The statement said Lin did not obtain the party’s consent before she registered her candidacy because of “personal grievances,” further complicating the situation.
The committee said they did not nominate Ye or Lin because it did not want them to attack each other. The party decided to pick Chen after KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) intervened because Chen was thought to have the best chance of winning.
The statement said Wu was never in the running because he lagged behind in the polls and King had told him in person during a meeting on Dec. 7 that he would not be selected.
The Taoyuan by-election will fill the vacancy left by KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚), who resigned after winning last month’s Taoyuan County commissioner election.
Three more by-elections will be held concurrently on Feb. 27 in Hsinchu, Chiayi and Hualien. The by-elections are being held after three lawmakers won the city mayor and county commissioner elections last month.
They are Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) of the KMT who won the Hsinchu County commissioner election, Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) of the DPP, who secured Chiayi County and Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who withdrew from the KMT to run as an independent and prevailed in the Hualien County commissioner election.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
‘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