Former Council of Indigenous Peoples minister Walis Pelin, a member of the Sediq people, on Friday announced his decision to run for legislator on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) joined Walis Pelin in his home village of Sdringan in Nantou County as he accepted the DPP’s nomination to contend for one of the three seats that represent the mountains Aborigines.
The veteran politician, who served as minister from 2005 to 2007, failed in a 2012 legislative bid on the People First Party ticket.
Before his term as minister, Walis Pelin served four legislative terms.
Over the past seven years, he has focused on promoting organic farming as a sustainable business for rural Aboriginal communities.
During a visit to Walis Pelin’s farm on Friday, Tsai praised his work on the passage of the Aboriginal Basic Act (原住民基本法) and the transfer of Aboriginal land rights from the Ministry of the Interior to the Council of Indigenous Peoples.
She said that a strong financial basis should be the pivotal concern in promoting Aboriginal autonomy, adding that the protection of Aboriginal land rights is among the crucial issues that the DPP intends to address.
Walis Pelin is among the principle architects of Tsai’s Aboriginal policies for her ongoing presidential campaign, sources have said.
Walis Pelin would face Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) incumbent Yosi Takun, also a Sediq, in the Sediq heartland of Renai Township (仁愛) in Nantou County.
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