The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wrapped up its “Super Weekend” yesterday ahead of Saturday’s nine-in-one elections with campaign motorcades and rallies that featured top party members along with its candidates.
Given that the party has set central Taiwan as the key battleground in the elections, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former DPP chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and former DPP secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) headed in three separate groups to canvass in Greater Taichung, Nantou County and Changhua County, before the three teams joined up in Nantou’s Caotun Township (草屯) for an afternoon rally.
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) also stumped on the streets of Greater Taiching alongside mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
Photo: Wang Chun-chieh, Taipei Times
Lin I-hsiung said Saturday’s elections are not simply about local politics, but about fostering more leadership in the nation.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) adoption of pro-China policies in recent years has caused some entrepreneurs to back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to make more money, but this is not beneficial to the nation’s democratic development, he said, referring to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) support for the KMT.
Lin I-hsiung called on voters to vote for DPP candidates to show their dissatisfaction with the Ma administration’s pro-China tendencies and to force change.
Tsai had an especially busy day. In addition to her trip to central Taiwan, she also visited Taoyuan County to campaign for Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), made an appearance in Hsinchu County to campaign for independent county commissioner candidate Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金), stumped in Miaoli County for DPP county commissioner candidate Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) and then traveled to Hsinchu City to back DPP mayoral candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅).
Last night, Tsai went back to Taoyuan, where she shared a stage with former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former vice premier Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and attorney Wellington Koo (顧立雄) at a rally for Cheng.
Additional reporting by Tang Tsai-hsin
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