Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday declared his candidacy for a legislative seat in Keelung, ending speculation that he was planning to run in a legislative district where the party usually struggles.
Hau said he decided to enter the election in Keelung as part of the KMT’s strategy to “maximize the number of seats” the party can win in elections to be held on Jan. 16 for the ninth legislature.
Tasked with overseeing the party’s legislative nominations, Hau said he would do everything he could “to boost the party’s morale” when he was asked to comment on KMT Vice Chairperson Huang Min-hui’s (黃敏惠) apparent hesitancy to run for a legislative seat in Chiayi City — where she served as mayor for eight years.
The KMT faces a very tough battle to preserve its majority in the upcoming elections, Hau said, adding that “unity is the only way to secure victory.”
“I would never refuse or fear to go into battle for the good of the KMT,” Hau said.
Hau was previously said to have been considering making a legislative bid for a seat in Kaohsiung, Tainan or Taichung.
The decision to run in Keelung was made after a discussion with KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Hau said.
Keelung was traditionally a pan-blue camp stronghold, but the mayoral election in November last year was won by Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as allegations of corruption involving former Keelung city council speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) led to a split in votes for the pan-blue camp.
Hau is to be joined in the race for a legislative seat in Keelung by 43-year-old Keelung City Councilor Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) of the DPP and People First Party candidate Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), who has represented the city for three terms.
Liu said it is strange that Hau has decided to run in a legislative election when he could rather have run for president.
“Could the KMT not find anyone from Keelung to run?” Tsai said.
Keelung Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) of the KMT said in February that he would not seek re-election, citing the party’s thrashing in the nine-in-one elections in November last year.
At least five KMT members have said they are interested in running for the seat, including Hsieh Li-kung, Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥), son of former Keelung mayor Lin Shui-mu (林水木), and Legislator-at-large Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍), among others.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS