Taipei commissioner race turns negative from get-go

Bickering between candidates for the year-end mayoral and county commissioner races began yesterday as People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and Council for Hakka Affairs head Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) kicked off their campaigns for Taipei County Commissioner.

"A boy scout is running the country; we don't want a boy scout running the county," Chou said yesterday in an opening salvo at the 39-year-old Luo, in a reference to his opponent's youth and relative inexperience.

Speaking at a press conference kicking off his campaign for Taipei County Commissioner yesterday, Chou addressed what is widely seen to be Luo's ethnic advantage in the race.

Chou said he has spent the last eleven years getting to know the Hakka community in Taipei County and is aware of their issues and concerns, adding that he hopes the Hakka community will support him.

Over 500,000 Hakka reside in Taipei County, making their support critical in the year-end commissioner race.

Responding to Chou's comments yesterday, Luo said that being young and a member of the young politicians that the media has dubbed President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "boy scouts" did not mean that he does not have the experience needed to be a good county commissioner. Luo emphasized that his entry into the race represents the coming of a new generation of younger politicians.

Luo also played the ethnicity card yesterday, highlighting the fact that he is the first Hakka to run for county commissioner in Taipei County.

Both Luo and Chou yesterday began their campaigns in Yingge, Taipei County.

In addition to Luo and Chou, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) also expressed his interest in the seat, formally announcing his intent to run Saturday.

Getting a head start on Luo and Chou, Lee began his campaign activities yesterday. While mingling with supporters in Taipei County yesterday, Lee also took the chance to criticize Chou. Chou has been too anxious to push ahead, Lee said, and he should enter the KMT's nomination process as suggested by KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正).

Chou previously called upon the KMT to speed up its nomination process to facilitate pan-blue cooperation.