Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday announced that he would not seek re-election next year, citing a desire to retire from politics and care for an ill family member.
Lim said in a statement that he has a family member who has been ill with “a rare disease” for two years, prompting his decision to retire.
Lim thanked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁), Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and Jocelyn Hung (洪婉臻) for demonstrating a spirit of cross-party cooperation in working with him, despite being busy preparing for next year’s elections.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
He would fully support the DPP’s candidates, he said.
“Members of the DPP and other government officials have repeatedly urged me over the past few days to reconsider, and it is with a heavy heart that I make this decision,” he said.
DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said that Lim had always been regarded as a “high-quality legislator,” who had been a partner to the DPP on many occasions.
“We regret to see Lim go, but we respect his decision. We will take his choice not to run into consideration when nominating our own candidates,” Chang said. “During his tenure, he successfully promoted many progressive bills and made possible the completion of many construction projects.”
Lim said that his constituency — Taipei’s fifth electoral district covering Zhongzheng (中正) and Wanhua (萬華) districts — is considered a challenging one, but he believes that a good candidate with new strategies and good energy could bring positive change.
“Everyone’s worry is that if I do not run, the Zhongzheng and Wanhua constituency will regress, but I believe this will open the seat up to someone with more positive energy, increasing the impetus for progress there,” he said.
Lim said his aim as a legislator had been to act as a bridge for change with the districts’ talented young people, to help them realize their vision for Taiwan.
“Bringing together young people has always been an important task for me,” he said.
In his remaining time in office, he would continue to work hard for the constituency and seek ways to work toward his goal of Taiwan being seen as a “normal country with dignity,” he said.
Lim told reporters that his decision not to run had to be made as early as possible to give the DPP time to prepare a candidate for the constituency.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) had previously expressed interest in contesting the constituency.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at