Taiwan's Interior Ministry says the pro-China Unification Promotion Party will lose the right to nominate election candidates if the Constitutional Court orders it dissolved, a setback for the party and its local hopefuls.

• The ministry asked the Constitutional Court in August to dissolve the party, calling it a long-running threat to national security.
• Fifteen people linked to the party have still registered for Taiwan's nine-in-one local elections in November.
• Only two are running under the party's name, both for village chief seats in New Taipei and Hsinchu; the rest are running as independents or under other parties.
• The ministry says a party ruled unconstitutional cannot nominate candidates, but it will leave the final call on eligibility to election commissions.

Outlook: Election officials plan to finish screening candidates by mid-October, so the court's timing will decide whether the party's two nominees stay on the ballot.