Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) is poised to represent the KMT and compete against Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) in November’s mayoral election after he yesterday defeated two other candidates in the party’s primary.
According to the average results of three opinion polls released by the KMT’s Taoyuan chapter yesterday, Chen garnered a support rating of 35.68 percent, followed by Taoyuan City Councilor Lu Ming-che (魯明哲) with 33.06 percent and former KMT legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) with 31.24 percent.
Chen, who is serving a fourth term as legislator, is expected to be officially nominated by the KMT at a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee next week at the earliest, the party said.
Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times
If his nomination receives the committee’s support, Chen would be the second special municipality mayoral candidate nominated by the party after KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), who secured her nomination as the party’s Taichung candidate on Wednesday last week.
In a speech delivered after the results were announced, Chen said he would do his utmost to help the KMT regain its lost support, and unite the party with the help of Yang and Lu.
“Unlike Cheng, I would not squander money if elected, and would allocate budgets precisely and accurately for my policies,” Chen said, adding that he would spend his time communicating with Taoyuan residents rather than attending ceremonies like Cheng.
Taoyuan, which was upgraded to a special municipality in December 2014, had been governed by the KMT since 2001 until Cheng defeated then-Taoyuan county commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) in the 2014 local elections.
However, Yang refused to accept results of the polls, saying they did not conform with the preliminary results her aides had gathered during the polling process.
“[The preliminary results] indicated that I was leading in two polls, but was trailing closely behind the other two aspirants in the other. How could I ended up finishing last in all three polls,” Yang said. “I do not believe the poll results.”
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the primary was conducted in a fair, just and open manner, adding that none of the candidates raised any concerns during the primary.
“Regarding the accusation made by one of the aspirants, it will be dealt with by the Taoyuan chapter, but it will not change the results of the primary,” Hung said.
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