Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) expressed optimism about the party’s chances in next month’s three-in-one local elections, saying the DPP was expected to retain its grip on Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties.
In a radio interview on Thursday, Tsai said recent polls showed a strong lead for DPP candidates in the three counties, while the candidate in Yilan County enjoyed a narrow lead over his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterpart and there was hope for the DPP candidate in Taitung County.
“Overall, the situation for the DPP is moving in a positive direction, but close observation is still needed to see whether we can maintain this lead up to polling day,” Tsai said. “It would be disappointing if the DPP fails to hold on to power in Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties.”
PHOTO: CHANG TSUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
SUPPORT
Tsai also spoke for the first time in public in support of Chang Chih-ming (張志明), an independent candidate for Hualien County, saying that the battle in Hualien was not about winning, but about choosing a good county commissioner.
While declining to predict the election results, Tsai said the biggest variable in local elections was vote-buying and that the key to winning lay in preventing bribery.
To that end, the DPP’s legislative caucus has already purchased video-taping equipment, she said.
More than 800 suspected cases of vote-buying in the run-up to the local elections for mayors and magistrates, city and county councilors and city and township heads have been reported as of last Sunday, of which 13 are under investigation, the Ministry of Justice said.
Next month’s elections will be held in 17 cities and counties only. Six cities and counties — Taipei County, Taichung City, Taichung County, Tainan City, Tainan County and Kaohsiung County — that will be upgraded or merged into municipalities will not elect new chiefs until late next year.
Asked whether she would run for a mayoral position in one of the new municipalities, Tsai said it was too early to discuss the matter, but added: “While sometimes the party chair might not be the best candidate, there are times when it is the chair’s responsibility to stand up and play the game.”
She urged party members who intend to run for mayoral positions in the new municipalities to first work together to win the upcoming local elections before sitting down to discuss the matter.
SPLIT
Tsai was referring to a recent dispute between Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), both of whom look set to vie for the DPP ticket for the Kaohsiung municipal elections next year, when Kaohsiung County is merged with Kaohsiung City.
Yang accused Chen of releasing a poll survey showing that both Chen’s support rate and satisfaction rate were higher than Yang’s.
Chen denied the accusation, saying she had not published any public opinion polls.
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