The Minkuotang (MKT), or the Republic Party, yesterday announced its initial slate of district candidates for January’s legislative elections.
MKT Chairperson Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) said she would seek re-election for her Hsinchu County seat, while three other candidates would contest districts in Miaoli County, Taipei and New Taipei City.
The Legislative Yuan is seen as a “madhouse” marked by “scorched earth” political conflict, causing both idleness and exhaustion on the part of lawmakers, Hsu said.
It needs more high-quality legislators because it lacks efficiency in passing legislation, passing an average of only 100 bills a year, she said.
Hsu — who won the most votes of any district legislator in the 2012 legislative elections — faces Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) and independent candidate Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金), who is backed by the DPP, in the January polls.
Former independent Miaoli County legislator Kang Shih-ju (康世儒) is trying to win back the seat from the incumbent, KMT Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明), and also faces former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Tou Wen-ching (杜文卿).
Wu Hsu-chih (吳旭智) will run in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) against incumbent KMT Legislator Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) and Social Democratic Party candidate Fan Yun (范雲).
Chang Ching-fang (張菁芳) faces off in New Taipei City’s Yonghe/Jhonghe (永和/中和) electoral district against KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) and Taiwan Solidary Union (TSU) at-large Legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安).
Questioned about Chang and Wu’s lack of political experience, Hsu said that all politicians were once “political novices.”
When asked why all four districts where the MKT is running candidates are “pan-blue” strongholds, she said that candidates had been nominated after they expressed a willingness to stand for election, with no deliberate effort to pick districts, Hsu said.
The party plans to announce more district candidacies next week and its list of at-large candidates later on, she said.
The party has to field at least 10 district candidates to be eligible to win an at-large seat.
Hsu avoided questions about which presidential candidate she would support, saying the party is urging its members to vote for whomever they believe would make the nation prosperous and strong.
There was substantial room for future cooperation with other parties, she said.
Hsu founded the MKT in March after withdrawing from the KMT. She said at the time that Taiwan needed more choices than just the “blue and green” — referring to the KMT, the DPP and their allies.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS