Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) An environmentalist, a new immigrant and a TV news anchor are among the 34 legislator-at-large nominees named by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ahead of the January 2020 elections.
At the top of the list is incumbent legislator-at-large Wu Yu-Chin (吳玉琴), who specializes in elderly care, while Hung Shen-han (洪申翰), deputy secretary-general of the Green Action Alliance, is second, and Nantou County Councilor Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲), an immigrant from Malaysia, is fourth.
Hung, 34, commissioner of the national Office of Energy and Carbon Reduction, is a prominent anti-nuclear activist in Taiwan. A graduate of National Taiwan University, he worked at Academia Sinica as a research assistant.
Lo, 50, has been a strong advocate for the welfare of immigrants in Taiwan and has been pushing for the Nantou County government to set up a special office to deal with matters pertaining to immigrants.
After the DPP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) approved and released the nomination list Thursday night, Lo said that if she becomes a lawmaker she will continue to fight for new immigrants and for long-term care of the elderly.
Also among the nominees are Fan Yun (范雲), one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party and an Associate Professor of Sociology at National Taiwan University, who is listed at 3rd; former Premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), who is listed at 7th, TV news anchor Lin Chu-yin (林楚茵), who is listed at 11th; Yu Wan-feng (游萬豐), former chairman of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, who is placed on the 14th spot; and Omi Wilang, secretary-general of the Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition of Taiwan (IPACT), who is listed at 15th.
Rounding up the top 15 are incumbent DPP district lawmakers Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源 5th), Chou Chun-mi (周春米 6th), Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘 8th), Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲 9th), Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄 10th) and Shih Yi-fang (施義芳 13th), as well as DPP Central Standing Committee member Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) at 11th.
In the Legislature, 73 of the 113 seats are filled by means of direct elections in the nation's constituencies, six are reserved for indigenous candidates elected by indigenous voters, and 34 are at-large seats allocated based on the total number of votes obtained by each political party in the legislative election.
According to political commentators, the first 14 nominees on the DPP list of at-large legislators are highly likely to secure a seat in the Jan. 11, 2020 elections.
The DPP currently holds 68 seats in the 113-seat Legislature, while the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has 35.
On Wednesday, the KMT announced its nominees for at large legislative seats, with former Central Police University Professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) topping the list of 34 names.
(By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Frances Huang)
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