Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) political figures yesterday made last-ditch efforts to canvass support for their respective candidates on the eve of today’s three-in-one local elections.
Voters will elect mayors and county commissioners as well as city and county councilors and township chiefs in 17 cities and counties.
This will be the first major election since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May last year and is seen by many as a mid-term test of his administration.
Ma, who also serves as KMT chairman, traveled to Yilan County last night with other senior KMT party members in hopes of securing the county in today’s vote.
Yesterday’s visit marked Ma’s 10th trip to Yilan County since October to campaign for incumbent commissioner Lu Kuo-hua (呂國華) of the KMT.
The KMT won the county — a pan-green stronghold that had been under the DPP’s governance for 24 years — in the three-in-one-elections four years ago. However, the DPP continues to enjoy strong support in the county, leading Ma to make frequent visits there.
Lu, quoted by local media on Thursday as saying Ma’s campaigning efforts were not enough to help him win, said that he had been “joking” with the press.
“I was just joking. President Ma paid great attention to the election in Yilan County, and of course his campaigning is helping,” he said.
Ma yesterday declined to comment on Lu’s remarks when canvassing the streets with him, and said the party would spare no effort to campaign for him.
The tensions between the two camps in Yilan County prompted many Yilan natives to return home to cast their votes, and roads through Hsuehshan Tunnel leading to the county were packed from early yesterday afternoon.
KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) said yesterday that the party was confident it would secure at least 11 cities and counties in today’s election, and would have to fight hard to win in six cities and counties, including Hsinchu, Yilan and Chiayi Counties.
The KMT estimated that the overall turnout of today’s election would be between 60 percent and 70 percent, and the election in Chiayi County would be determined by about 3,000 votes.
In addition to the traditional DPP strongholds of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties, the KMT also faced tough battles in Hsinchu and Hualien counties because of pan-blue splits.
“The nomination process in Hsinchu and Hualien counties was challenging for us, but we spent a lot of time campaigning in the counties and we remain positive about the election outcome,” Chan said yesterday at KMT headquarters.
KMT Hualien County commissioner candidate Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) faced challenges from independent candidate Chang Chi-ming (張志明), who left the party to run in the election and received an endorsement from Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-san (謝深山).
In Hsinchu, KMT nominee Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) also faced competition from independent candidate Chang Pi-chin (張碧琴), who had the support of incumbent commissioner Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金).
Ma accompanied Tu to canvass for support yesterday morning, and attended the groundbreaking ceremony for construction to electrify the Hualien-Taitung railway line.
Shrugging off criticism that the KMT used the construction to win votes in Hualien, Ma said he had promised to build better public transportation for the people in eastern Taiwan.
RSS