Mon, Nov 23, 2009 page3

• No KMT sweep in Dec. 5 elections: Wu

  MODEST AMBITION The premier said that if the party managed to hold Nantou, Changhua and the counties and cities to the north, it would consider that a victory

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
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  Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had little chance of making a clean sweep of the 17 seats up for grabs in the Dec. 5 elections for county commissioners and city mayors.

  Wu, the former KMT secretary-general, made the comments in Hualien while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) led party officials and Central Standing Committee (CSC) members in campaigning for Hualien County commissioner candidate Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) yesterday.

  Later on, during the CSC meeting, Wu said that if the KMT could hold on to Nantou, Changhua and the counties and cities north of them, the party could view that as a victory.

  He said that the four counties of Yilan, Hsinchu, Pingtung and Chiayi were the most important and that the party would be attacking and defending in equal measure.

  Wu also said that he would take responsibility for any failure in the elections, as the candidates were all nominated during his tenure as part secretary-general.

  Wu became premier three months ago.

  BATTLES

  Earlier in the day, Wu said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faced considerable difficulties in putting forth viable candidates in cities and counties where the KMT had a strong base, adding that the DPP’s only hope in those places was to try and team up with peripheral forces from the pan-blue camp.

  The KMT faced a similar uphill struggle in localities where the pan-green forces were strong, so the party could not afford to be complacent, Wu said.

  Ma will preside over four other CSC meetings in central and southern Taiwan ahead of the elections to raise support for KMT candidates.

  HSIEH

  Meanwhile, former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the DPP should be able to win seven seats.

  Campaigning for DPP candidates in Pingtung County, Hsieh said the DPP should be able to hold on to Yunlin, Pingtung and Chiayi counties and win four seats, including one in Ilan County.

  Some areas under DPP administration are not featuring in the elections as they are set to become special municipalities administered directly under the central government and will hold elections next year.

  Standing alongside Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻), Hsieh said that the government’s recent policies regarding the import of bone-in US beef have hurt Taiwan’s beef industry.

  He advised voters to boycott Ma’s KMT over his failed policies and called on Ma to “resolve the problem of US beef instead of only worrying about elections.”

  Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday that the controversial US bone-in beef would begin arriving “in the next few days.”

  PRESIDENTIAL BID

  In response to questions regarding who would represent the DPP for presidential elections in 2012, Hsieh said that for the moment the focus should be on the local elections.

  ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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