Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the son of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) and a fourth-generation descendant of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), on Sunday announced that he would run in the KMT’s legislative primary in Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts, pitting himself against incumbent KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) and KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇).
Chiang Wan-an’s bid for the candidacy has been described by pundits as an attempt to avenge his father’s defeat at the hands of Lo in a 2011 KMT legislative primary.
Chiang Wan-an, 37, rejected the accusation, saying that there was no animosity between his family and Lo.
Photo: Tsai Ya-hua, Taipei Times
The nation has changed since the Sunflower movement and the nine-in-one elections last year, and young people need to step forward and bolster the KMT after the party suffered its greatest defeat in last year’s elections, Chiang Wan-an said.
Chiang Wan-an, who holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, has been working as a lawyer in the US and is a partner in a Taiwanese law firm. He said that he does not have dual citizenship when reporters asked him about his nationality.
Meanwhile, the KMT’s Taipei branch said competition for the party’s legislative candidacy in Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts is heated, with eight aspirants joining the primary after incumbent KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) announced that he would not seek re-election.
Among the eight aspirants are former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) and former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀).
The party’s regulations state that where there is only one registered candidate in a constituency, the candidate would be automatically nominated for the next year’s legislative elections, but if more than two contenders vie with an incumbent lawmaker for the party’s nomination, the incumbent has to pass an assessment, win a poll by a 5 percent margin and be approved by a nomination panel to secure the candidacy.
The nomination mechanism has been criticized by KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) as lacking transparency, saying that the party is biased toward incumbents, and that it has not yet expounded on the methodology used in the assessment and poll.
“Should not incumbent legislators be held accountable [for the KMT’s rout in last year’s nine-in-one elections]? Will the public be satisfied when it sees the same old faces running the legislature again?” Lee said.
Lee said he declined to sign up for the primary as a protest against the party’s policy.
The list of members wishing to take part in the primaries was submitted to KMT headquarters yesterday, the Taipei branch said.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS