Ma campaign kickoff delayed five days

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) hit a snag in his campaign for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman yesterday when plans to announce his candidacy were delayed because of scheduling difficulties.

Ma had intended to formally announce his candidacy for the July 16 KMT chairman election and explain his reasons for running at a rally today.

But although most Chinese-language papers bore front-page ads from Ma yesterday encouraging people to attend today's event in Taipei's Da-An Park, and invitations for the event had already been sent, Ma unexpectedly decided yesterday afternoon to delay the rally until Sunday.

The new location of the rally will be the athletic field of Kai-Nan Commercial and Technical High School on Chinan Road in Taipei.

"When taking on the challenge of running for KMT chairman, of course a very cautious attitude must be adopted," Ma told reporters yesterday.

Ma's campaign office said yesterday that the date change was caused by a scheduling mix-up. Ma's office had sought and received permission to hold a cultural and arts event for today's National Youth Day. But after learning of Ma's plan from media reports, the Taipei City Police Department reminded him that under the Parade and Assembly Law (集會遊行法), permission to hold political activities must be sought at least six days in advance. Ma's campaign office said the Mayor therefore decided to delay the rally.

While Ma made known his intentions to run for the KMT's top post last month, he has yet to formally announce his candidacy.

"The explanatory rally was originally scheduled for National Youth Day in Da-an Park to reflect the fact that the KMT, when it was originally known as the Tongmenghui (同盟會), depended on young people to act," Ma said. "Additionally, most of the 72 martyrs of Huanghuagang were in their 20s. I wanted to utilize this [day] to emphasize my call for reforming the KMT."

The Tungmenghui was originally organized by Republic of China founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) in 1905 to realize his revolutionary ideals. Taiwan's National Youth Day celebrates 72 revolutionaries who died in an unsuccessful uprising led by Sun.