The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League yesterday called on the party to postpone its chairperson by-election.
Former KMT chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) last month resigned after the party’s defeats in the Jan. 11 elections.
The KMT should put off the election and help with prevention efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus, KMT Central Review Committee member Chang Ya-ping (張雅屏) told a news conference outside KMT headquarters in Taipei.
Photo: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Taipei Times
Efforts surrounding a petition to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) should also be put on hold in the interest of cooperating on disease prevention, he said.
Chang had expressed interest in running in the by-election, but later decided not to.
Former KMT Youth League secretary-general Lee Zheng-hao (李正皓) said he doubted whether either of the two candidates registered for the by-election — former KMT vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a former Taipei mayor, and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) — would arouse public interest.
The two candidates also did not wish to touch upon sensitive topics, Lee added.
Although the KMT has said it is not pro-China, it has been unwilling to deal with controversial legislator-at-large-elect Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), a retired army lieutenant general, or the “image associated with Han Kuo-yu,” he said.
The KMT should expel Wu Sz-huai and not replace him; critically examine Han’s public image and have him face the recall petition on his own; and critically examine the party’s “reactionary culture” and apologize to members that it had expelled or punished for criticizing it, Lee said.
An incoming chairperson would only hold the post for one year and two months, so it would be more helpful to reform the party as a whole rather than elect a new chairperson, Lee said.
Former KMT Youth League head Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) said he felt the by-election was being rushed, and that the KMT was not allowing enough time for candidates to discuss their political views.
The one day planned for discussion — Wednesday next week — would be insufficient for those inside and outside the party to understand the candidates’ positions on party reform issues, Lin said.
The league was attempting to address this problem by holding a mock debate session at the news conference and inviting former high-level party members, party workers and assistants to participate in it, he said.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS