KMT calls for solidarity; DPP sees big gain in Dec. elections

Premier Wu Den-yih, who formerly served as KMT's secretary general, said yesterday that local “three-in-one elections” should not be seen as a mid-term test for the performance of President Ma Ying-jeou, but can be regarded as a major test after Ma retook the chairmanship of the ruling party.

Eligible voters in 17 of Taiwan's 25 cities and counties will elect mayors and magistrates, city and county councilors, and city and township heads in uncoming elections.

Seven other cities and counties — Taipei County, Taichung City and County, Tainan City and County, Kaohsiung City and County — will be upgraded or merged into municipalities and hold elections for local leaders along with Taipei City next year.

When campaigning for KMT candidates in Keelung City and in eastern Hualien County, Wu conceded that the party's candidates in some areas are threatened by major splits among supporters as some former party members insisted on staying in the race even after they lost primaries for nomination and were expelled from the party.

The KMT is facing tough battles in Hualien, Yilan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Pingtung counties.

President Ma made use of the weekly holidays to lead members of the Central Standing Committee to Hualien to drum up support for Tu Lih-hua, a senior advisor at the Hualien county government, who defeated former Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan in the party's primaries.

Although Hualien has long been a stronghold for the KMT, Tu is facing ruthless challenge from veteran KMT lawmaker Fu Kun-chi.

Fu, who switched to the KMT from the now much weakening People First Party, was banned from the KMT primaries mainly because he has been convicted of insider trading and a separate scam. He is still appealing the sentences to imprisonment.

Ma said Tu has maintained impeccable records in her public career, representing the KMT's determination to uphold the principles of no corruption, righteousness and diligence.

After serving for years in the county government, Tu has been promoting “agriculture without poison and contamination.”

Ma compares Tu's integrity to her current contributions to cultivate healthy farm produce for people.

Without mentioning Fu's name, Ma told supporters that it is impossible for his party to endorse candidates embroidered in lawsuits.

But Ma cited Yeh as an outstanding example for fair play and promoting solidarity. Despite his loss to Tu in the primaries, Yeh honored his promise of providing the maximum assistance by serving as her campaign manager.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email