The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nomination process for the Tainan and Kaohsiung mayoral primaries was yesterday criticized, as candidates blasted alleged factionalism, “money politics” and dishonest maneuvers.
In the Tainan primary, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) and former DPP legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) took aim at DPP Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), who they said was seeking to manipulate the election.
Chen criticized a report on Thursday last week by the Chinese-language Web site Storm Media, which cited a DPP opinion poll that put Huang well ahead of his competitors with 33.8 percent support, followed by Chen’s 17.5 percent, DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu’s (王定宇) 10.4 percent and former Tainan deputy mayor Yen Chun-tso’s (顏純左) 9.1 percent, with DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) and Lee lagging behind.
The party did not conduct an opinion poll and the report falsely cited the DPP to influence the election, Chen said.
“The DPP must take immediate action if there is any candidate presenting false opinion polls in its name. It is fraud and manipulation,” Chen said.
The nomination race is a cliffhanger between her and Huang, and the survey was fabricated in a bid to disqualify her, Chen added.
Lee criticized Huang for partnering with the DPP’s influential New Tide faction and Tainan City Councilor Kuo Hsiu-chu (郭秀珠), who Lee said has a background in “money politics” due to her experience working as an aide to former Tainan City Council speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), who was ousted for vote-buying.
Huang’s partnerships have reintroduced factionalism in the DPP and resembles the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Lee said.
The New Tide faction and Chen’s faction, which is led by former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), have spent more than NT$100 million (US$3.38 million) combined on campaigning, an astronomical amount for a primary, Lee added.
In the party’s Kaohsiung mayoral primary, DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said the match would be a one-on-one competition between he and DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), while two other contenders, DPP legislators Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺), were to be “negotiated out” of the race.
Chao, who is lagging behind in opinion polls, said he has arranged negotiations with Kuan and Lin.
However, Kuan and Lin said they rejected Chao’s proposal and criticized his attempt to manipulate the election by making false allegations.
Kuan, who registered for the primary yesterday, disputed Chao’s claim that she had agreed to hold a negotiation.
“All opinion polls show that I am evenly matched with Chen Chi-mai,” Kuan said. “I have to warn all politicians that they should not sacrifice their integrity for popularity.”
Meanwhile, Lin said that Chao had sent an assistant to negotiate with her, but that she believes any formal negotiations should be carried out officially rather than under the table.
Lin, who has also outperformed Chao in the polls, urged him not to seek to manipulate the election by planting rumors in the media.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS