Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday started on a tour that is to see him hold a large campaign event in each of the city’s 12 districts.
The first event was held in Beitou District (北投), which has been part of Ting’s constituency as a lawmaker since 1990 and where he started a campaign “fan club” yesterday.
The tour is to end on Oct. 14 and is to see Ting set up more local “fan clubs.”
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
Ting said he has represented Beitou for more than two decades and the district has always been close to his heart.
“My performance as a lawmaker has repeatedly been rated as excellent and I have been instrumental in the passage of several bills that improve people’s livelihoods, but the fact that Beitou remains peripheral, with scores of old houses and apartments, weighs on my mind,” Ting told a crowd at the event yesterday.
He pledged that he would build a “universal studios” theme park in Beitou, further develop the district’s most valuable assets — hot springs — and boost tourism.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was Taipei mayor from 1998 to 2006, said Ting is a genuine and hardworking politician, adding that he has known him for nearly 40 years.
“During my eight years as mayor and the eight years my successor, [KMT Vice Chairman] Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) governed the city, we successfully built Taipei into a world city,” Ma said.
“However, it is now in decline, which is why we need someone like Ting to restore it and make it better,” he said.
If the KMT is to win back Taipei from independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Ting must campaign against his opponents more fiercely, while better engaging with Taipei residents and clearly presenting his platform, Ma said.
Hau said that Ting’s efforts at the Legislative Yuan allowed his administration to secure a budget for the 2010 World Flower Expo.
The introduction of low-floor buses in the capital was also in large part due to Ting’s efforts, Hau added.
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