The mayoral campaigns in Taipei and Taoyuan, and to a lesser extent in Hsinchu City, are the “battles to watch” ahead of the local elections next month, political observers have said.
Voters nationwide are to cast ballots in mayoral, county commissioner, and city and county councilor elections on Nov. 26, as well as for local officials down to the borough and village levels.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) is to step down after serving two terms, just like the incumbents in Taoyuan and Hsinchu.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Ko has endorsed former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), who is running against two high-profile candidates: Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中). Chiang is a purported great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), while Chen in July stepped down as health minister and head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, at which he oversaw the country’s COVID-19 response.
The city is considered a KMT stronghold and largely favors candidates from the pan-blue camp.
However, pundits have said they see an opening for the DPP, as Huang, a member of the pan-blue People First Party, might split the camp’s vote.
The most recent poll by My Formosa, released on Friday, showed Chiang leading with 34.3 percent, followed by 27.7 percent for Chen and 22.4 percent for Huang.
Similarly, a poll by TVBS, released on Oct. 30, also showed Chiang ahead, with 37 percent support, compared with 27 percent for Chen and 21 percent for Huang.
A DPP source said with Chen’s two rivals considered pan-blue, he might win on the back of strong support from a united pan-green camp.
However, a KMT source disagreed, saying the KMT believes that either Chiang or Huang will win, as the capital remains a pan-blue stronghold.
This would be despite there being no clear political distinction between Chiang and Huang, the source said, but added that TPP supporters might rather vote for Huang, as many of them are former KMT supporters who feel disappointed with the party.
“Convincing pan-blue voters to vote for Chiang could be his major challenge,” the source said.
In Taoyuan, the picture became more complicated after former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), who was nominated by the DPP, withdrew from the mayoral race after a plagiarism scandal. He was replaced by DPP lawmaker Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬).
Cheng is running against former premier Simon Chang (張善政) of the KMT, the TPP’s Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶), and former DPP lawmaker and founding party member Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清).
The race remains hard to predict, with Chang at first apparently benefiting from the plagiarism scandal, but then suffering a setback when the DPP accused him of improper use of information while working on a government project from 2007 to 2009.
Surveys have shown a close race between Chang and Cheng Yun-peng, with Cheng Pao-ching and Lai trailing far behind.
A DPP source said Cheng Pao-ching could take away some pan-green votes from Cheng Yun-peng, and the election result “is becoming more and more unpredictable.”
KMT Legislator Lu Ming-che (魯明哲) said that even though the plagiarism scandal forcing the DPP to change candidates helped Chang, the KMT must campaign hard to win.
The KMT cannot win the race “simply based on the DPP’s mistakes,” Lu said. “Chang is still doing his part by meeting potential voters face to face.”
Former Hsinchu deputy mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹) of the DPP, Hsinchu City Councilor Lin Ken-jeng (林耕仁) of the KMT and TPP Legislator Kao Hung-an (高虹安) are to face off in an unpredictable race for Hsinchu mayor.
A poll by TVBS released on Oct. 26 showed Kao leading with 34 percent support, followed by Shen with 27 percent and Lin with 21 percent, giving Kao the same 7 percentage point edge she had over Shen in an RW News poll on Oct. 12.
However, a poll released Monday last week by Taiwan-based Broadcasting Corp of China and Gallup market research showed Kao and Shen tied in first place with 25.96 percent support each and Lin third with 14.04 percent, possibly indicating that DPP supporters are falling in line behind their party’s candidate as election day nears.
Former legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) of the TPP, who serves as the party’s campaign strategy head, said her party has a chance to steal a seat or two in these elections, especially in Taipei and Hsinchu.
“The thing we are most worried about is if swing voters do not bother voting on election day because of apathy toward politics,” she said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS