Amid a proliferation in the number of candidates from minor parties standing in January’s legislative elections, some have grabbed attention with their unique agendas.
Motorists’ Party of the Republic of China (MPROC) Chairperson Bryan Dong (董建一) is standing in the legislative contest for New Taipei City’s Yonghe (永和) and Zhonghe (中和) districts, which would pit him against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福).
Founded in July last year, the MPROC advocates reforms to traffic regulations in a bid to create a friendlier environment for motorcyclists — such as lifting regulations that require motorcyclists to make two-point left turns at intersections.
Dong, who announced his candidacy in February, said that the rights of the nation’s 10 million motorcyclists have been neglected for too long, and that leaders from both major political parties have failed to address issues related to traffic safety and social welfare.
Dong might find himself competing against housing reform activist Lee Hsing-chang (李幸長), who is running as an independent in the same district. Lee is best known as the leader of the Snails Without Shells movement, a sleepout protest held on Aug. 26, 1989, against unaffordable housing, which saw more than 50,000 protesters camp out overnight on Taipei’s Zhongxiao E Road. He announced his decision to stand for election late last month, saying that he intended to continue promoting the reforms to housing policies that he first proposed 20 years ago.
The Tree Party, an environmentally focused political party founded last year after a split in the Green Party, is also set to field candidates in next year’s elections. Led by former Green Party leader Pan Han-sheng (潘翰聲), the Tree Party advocates the rights of trees, animals and underprivileged groups. Two Tree Party candidates have announced their intentions to stand in the elections — youth activist Lin Chia-yu (林佳諭) is to stand as a candidate in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) after her unsuccessful campaign for city councilor last year, while Pan is to stand in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山).
Lee and both Tree Party candidates have joined a new political group, the Progressive Alliance (進步連線) — a coalition of eight legislative candidates organized by Chinese Culture University professor Yao Li-ming (姚立明), who was the director of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) mayoral campaign.
As many members of the Progressive Alliance were affiliated with Ko’s mayoral campaign last year, media commentators have branded the group “Ko’s Army.”
The group also includes former Ko campaign spokespersons Billy Pan (潘建志) and Lin Hsiao-chi (林筱淇), Taipei Clean Government Commission members Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋) and Hsu Chin-huang (徐嶔煌) and Ko campaign consultant Liu Kun-li (劉坤鱧).
Additional reporting by CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS