Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) yesterday announced his withdrawal from the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Taipei City (新北市) mayoral primary, saying he did not have enough time to prepare for the campaign.
Lo’s withdrawal left the primary with two aspirants, former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) and former DPP legislator Chuang Shuo-han (莊碩漢), with Yu regarded as the odds-on favorite.
Accompanied by former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Lo officially announced his decision to drop out of the race yesterday morning after a visit to Tsai’s office.
Photo: CNA
“As party headquarters’ strategic considerations and scheduling decision have left me with little time to prepare for my campaign, I hereby announce my decision to withdraw from the primary. Hopefully, my withdrawal will help the party win the election,” said Lo, director of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter.
Tsai said she respected Lo’s decision and praised him for making his best effort for the campaign.
There have been reports that DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) favored Yu’s nomination in the primary in exchange for Yu’s support in the DPP chairmanship election next year.
During negotiations conducted by a task force designated by DPP headquarters on Thursday, the three aspirants agreed that a public opinion poll would be held on Dec. 2 to determine the winner of the winner, although Lo and Chuang had hoped that the survey would be conducted at a later date.
Responding to reporters’ questions, DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) reiterated that all three aspirants agreed on the survey date, adding that based on the party’s primary regulations, a poll must be held within one month after party negotiations, unless aspirants agree on a later date.
In related news, the DPP announced that former legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) had defeated former legislator Tang Huo-sheng (湯火聖) in a public opinion poll in Nantou County, making him the party’s representative in the Nantou commissioner election next year.
Lee won the poll by a “considerable margin,” Lin said, but “in respect of Lee and Tang’s agreement, we will not disclose the survey’s exact figures.”
The DPP is expected to finalize its first group of candidates for the mayoral and commissioner elections next year after its Central Executive Committee meeting today and officially announce seven nominees.
Three of the seven nominees would be candidates who won party primaries in the past month, including Nantou County’s Lee Wen-chung, Pan Men-an (潘孟安) of Pingtung County and Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) of Yunlin County.
The other four are all incumbent mayors and commissioners, including Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) and Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢).
The DPP’s primary regulations stipulate that all incumbent mayors and commissioners who seek re-election would automatically qualify as the party’s candidates in the local elections.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has continued its investigation into allegations of forged signatures in recall efforts today by searching the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) city chapter and questioning several personnel including the chapter director, according to media reports. Among those questioned and detained were KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), chapter secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿), chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文) and first district committee executive director Tseng Fan-chuan (曾繁川). Prosecutors said they would not confirm reports about who had been summoned. The investigation centers on allegations that the ongoing recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤)
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
RSS