Saying that potential votes for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) might be affected by the divide of legislator-at-large votes due to the rise of “third force” parties, the DPP yesterday urged supporters to cast their party votes for the DPP to allow it to win more than half of the legislative seats and carry out effective reforms.
The DPP nominated 16 legislator-at-large candidates. Aiming to prioritize people with professional skills and knowledge, nearly half of the legislator-at-large nominees are not politicians by profession, while those with legislative experiences, such as legislators Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), are listed at the bottom of the lineup.
While the party originally estimated it would obtain at least 14 legislator-at-large seats — whose seats are allocated based on the party’s share of the vote — it has revised down its estimate to about 12 seats due to competition for votes from other “third force” parties. As such, those listed at the bottom of the list are at risk of failing in their election bids.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
In a news conference, the DPP’s legislator-at-large candidates reciprocally recommended each other’s expertise, urging voters to support their companions.
Tuan, who specializes in human rights and law, said that although Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) had been an administrative official and is now a legislator with extensive political experience, she had never forgotten her initial intention to stand up against authority in a time of authoritarianism.
“These half-political figures, such as Cheng, are especially precious to the DPP,” he said, adding that Cheng would certainly stand up to guard the party’s ideals and monitor the DPP’s lawmakers.
Cheng, who specializes in education and culture, said that Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) — listed as the 13th nominee on the list — is a former women’s rights movement campaigner, a guardian of human rights and an important driving force in many child and adolescent policies, calling on voters to help Yu obtain a legislative seat.
Responding to some members of the public placing newspaper advertisements asking people to divide legislator-at-large votes for the New Power Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union, Tuan said that many DPP political stars have publicly supported candidates of these other parties, so the people might be misled to think that the party is calling for vote allocation.
Therefore, some supporters might vote for the DPP candidate in the presidential election, but be misled to vote for other smaller political parties in the legislator-at-large elections, he said.
Tuan said the party now estimates that the division of votes to other smaller parties might affect the DPP more than it had originally expected, so to allow smoother reform in the future — without legislators blocking larger numbers of bills — the party is urging its supporters to cast their legislator-at-large votes only for the DPP.
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