Vice President Annette Lu yesterday announced her plans to run for president in the 2008 election, kicking off her bid to "seek a higher position" to make Taiwan "a normal country."
She was the first of Democratic Progressive Party aspirants for president to complete registration to participate in a long in-house fight to head the party's ticket for 2008.
At least three others are expected to formally join in the fray Friday, one day before the ruling party closes registration, which will be followed by "coordination" among all candidates, with President Chen Shui-bian playing referee.
Declaring her decision at Taipei's Grand Hotel, Lu whose slogan is "soft power" said she wants to engage China to avoid a war.
In what she called a "1 + 3 C" platform, Lu said Taiwan needs "constructive engagement," "co-existence," "co-operation" and "co-prosperity" with the People's Republic of China.
Her running number, Arabic numeral "1" is pronounced in Mandarin like the letter "e," that begins the word "engagement." There are three "C's," all starting with "co-" in as many words that follow.
Smiling, Lu told the press that after serving as vice president for seven years, the time has come for her to stand for the chance to lead the country.
"I've decided to seek a higher position to make Taiwan a normal country," Lu said. She did not elaborate on what she meant by "normal country," and it was unclear whether she was taking the definition used by recently elected Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe.
By a normal country, Abe means Japan should be able to play a role in world politics commensurate with its economic power, his immediate goal being to make the country a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
A normally aloof Lu was particularly media-friendly at the press conference she called at Taipei's landmark hotel, where her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was inaugurated in 1986.
Asked if she had told President Chen of her bid, Lu said she did. But, she added, the president did neither encourage nor discourage her.
"He said there are quite a few (aspirants); why not one more?" the vice president quipped.
She declined to say who will be her running mate.
"It's too early to say anything about it," Lu said. "I myself am a mud bodhisattva crossing a river, who may not make it in the first place," she added.
From the Grand Hotel, Lu went straight to the DPP central office, where she put up NT$7 million as candidacy deposit. None of the money will be returned if she fails to win the nomination.
All three of her rivals welcomed Lu's entry to the race, fully convinced that she would have little effect on their chances in the party nomination process.
Premier Su Tseng-chang, the frontrunner, gave Lu his "blessing."
Frank Hsieh, a former mayor of Kaohsiung and premier, said "four are the best," referring to a quandary of three mah-jongg fans waiting for a fourth to start a game.
"It's good for the party to have more candidates in primaries," said Yu Shyi-kun, DPP chairman who, like Lu, trails far behind Su and Hsieh in popularity polls.
A little ahead of Lu in polls, Yu believes her participation may boost support for him against the two heavily favored candidates.
As a matter of fact, Yu hopes to be a running mate.
Party primaries are scheduled for April 19. In-house polls will be held from May 7 to 28. The nomination will be announced on May 30.
However, President Chen wants to drop primaries and let the polls decide the 2008 ticket. He may have to try horse trading during the "coordination" period, which gets under way next week as soon as the party has vetted the qualifications of candidates.
No decisions have been made on how straw polls will be held. The ruling party has three plans for President Chen to choose.
One option is to count in anybody who considers voting for the party in the future.
Another plan is to find out those to be polled if they have voted for the party in the last three elections. One "no" vote would count them out.
Still another is a little complicated. Those to be polled will be asked to express support for one of the DPP candidates pitted against their opposition party adversaries.
According to this scenario, a choice has to be made between one of the four DPP candidates and either Ma Ying-jeou or Wang Jin-pyng of the Kuomintang.
The increasingly populist Ma, a former Kuomintang chairman indicted for corruption, is likely to be nominated, while Wang, president of the Legislative Yuan, has yet to declare candidacy, though he has made it very clear that he would run.
Should the third plan be adopted, no DPP candidate can beat Ma Ying-jeou. Before he was indicted on February 13, Ma had been unbeatable as Kuomintang candidate for president in poll after poll.
If the ruling party holds primaries according to schedule in defiance of President Chen's plan, their outcome will be weighed against the results of the polls to pick the final winner, the ratio being 30 to 70 percent.
Should President Chen have his way, the top two candidates most favored in the polls will be put on the ticket. The first one will be the standard bearer and the runner-up his running mate.
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