The three presidential candidates’ campaigns converged in Tainan yesterday — “Super Sunday,” the last weekend day of the campaign before Saturday’s elections — where they took part in motorcades, rallies and campaign events in bids to woo southern voters.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday morning toured the city, a traditional pan-green stronghold, in a motorcade from Yongkang District (永康) before an evening rally in Anping District (安平).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) began her campaign events by visiting the Kaitai Tianhou Temple (天后宮) in Anping District in the morning.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Her motorcade then toured the city, traveled to Chiayi for another street procession and then returned to Tainan for a nighttime rally.
The campaign trail of People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) saw him arrive in Tainan at about noon, where he visited Chenghuang Temple (城隍廟) before traveling to Kaohsiung, where he attended a rally and led a motorcade through the municipality.
The Tainan Police Department said Chu and Tsai’s motorcade routes through the city were plotted to avoid each other.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
A total of 890 police officers were deployed to enhance safety and prevent traffic congestion, the department said.
It had not issued orders to cancel police vacations, while individual precincts were responsible for their duty rosters, the department said.
Citing public safety concerns, the police department, prior to the candidates’ arrival in Tainan, called on the public to refrain from lighting firecrackers, jaywalking or rushing toward motorcades.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said that Super Sunday this year was “especially ‘super’ for Tainan, as it was the first time that Chu, Tsai and Soong — as presidential candidates — had been in the city on the same day.”
The candidates’ routes had been studied by a city government task force ahead of time to avoid them running into each other, Lai said.
Things that were planned ahead of time included finding out where street processions would overlap and scheduling convoys to pass those intersections at different times, he said.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
“Everyone is a welcomed guest in Tainan and the city government has the duty to ensure the safety of every candidate,” said Lai, who is a member of the DPP.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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