Former Cabinet secretary-general Hsieh Shen-shan (
"So many supporters and people from the grassroots told me that they want me to serve the county," Hsieh said yesterday at a labor union conference in Hualien, "and I am willing to fight for them now."
However, Hsieh added that he would respect the alliance's final choice of candidate.
PHOTO: HUA MENG-CHING
Hsieh, a senior KMT official and labor-union leader, emerged as the favorite among Hualien County voters in media and KMT polls.
The Hualien County commissioner election, due to be held on Aug. 2, is widely seen as a prelude to next March's presidential election as well as a test of the cooperation between the KMT and PFP.
"We are watching to see whether the PFP can successfully persuade its members to support a KMT candidate because there are so many conflicts of interest between the two parties," DPP Secretary General Chang Chun-hsiung (
PFP Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who was sentenced to six years in jail with a fine of NT$35 million by the Taipei District Court in the first instance for financial irregularities, has already formed his campaign team and even set up a campaign headquarters to battle for the commissioner's post left vacant by the late Chang Fu-hsing (
Chang's wife Liu Chao-a (
One DPP official, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the Hualien County commissioner campaign may reveal the real situation inside the KMT-PFP alliance.
"It is easy to sit down at the negotiating table and make a deal with other party leaders," the official said. "The question being asked among the lower ranks is who will be scarified?"
The official said that since the the KMT usually receives more than 60 percent of the vote in Hualien County, pan-blue members are keen to land the nomination.
"We believe that the conflict within the KMT-PFP alliance will be revealed during the campaign," the official said. "The pan-blues' problems may steadily worsen in the run up to the presidential election."
Chang Chun-hsiung said that the DPP's Central Standing Committee has authorized President Chen Shui-bian (
"We want to nominate a non-DPP member, who can represent the grassroots and will govern the county by transcending any political party interest," Chang said.
Meanwhile, Premier Yu Shyi-kun visited Liu Chao-a yesterday to exchange views on county affairs. Liu denied after the private meeting with Yu that she had discussed the election with the premier.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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