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Wang snags candidacy in poll

Wang Chien-shien, right, from the New Party and the KMT's Lin Jih-jia demonstrate they're still friends at a press conference yesterday in which the two parties announced the results of an opinion poll to decide which candidate to field in the Taipei County commissioner elections. Wang edged out Lin by 0.28 percent. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

The KMT will support the New Party's Wang Chien-shien in the race for Taipei County commissioner, the party said yesterday.

Wang beat the KMT's candidate Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) in an opinion poll by a margin of just 0.28 percent.

Though Wang won by a hairsbreadth, the New Party and KMT had agreed earlier to accept the results of the poll and ignore any margin of error.

Lin said he would throw his support behind Wang and would not seek any other public office. The four-term lawmaker also said he would not rule out the possibility of quitting politics for good.

"As soon as the poll results were out today, Wang, demonstrating his good intentions, proposed redoing the polls in light of the narrow margin," Lin said. "But I think this is it since we've already made a deal."

This was Lin's second failed attempt to become Taipei County commissioner. In 1997, Lin ran for the seat without the KMT's blessing after the party had nominated former Council of Labor Affairs chairman Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山).

Lin's candidacy in that race drew votes from Hsieh. The split-ticket cost both the election, and Lin was blamed after the seat went to the DPP's Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).

This year, the KMT had originally planned to cooperate with the People First Party (PFP) by backing a PFP candidate to compete with Su. The plan started to fall apart after former minister of justice Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) turned down the offer in July.

Later that month, the KMT nominated Lin, who still had a keen interest in the position.

The PFP, meanwhile, nominated its deputy secretary-general, Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生), early last month. Also in August, Wang -- a co-founder of the New Party and a former minister of finance -- announced his intention to vie for the three parties' joint nomination in the race.

Chin quit the race two weeks ago, with the PFP criticizing the KMT as being insincere in its pledges of cooperation.

After Chin's withdrawal, the KMT and the New Party agreed to conduct opinion polls in order to jointly select a candidate to run for Taipei County commissioner.

Having obtained the KMT's backing yesterday, Wang said he would visit both PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Chin to seek their support.

"I still need to work hard and show my sincerity if the three parties -- including their leadership, campaign officials and supporters -- are to identify with me as the candidate representing the opposition alliance," Wang said.

PFP spokesman Liao Tsang-song (廖蒼松) said yesterday the party would support Wang.

But as to whether the PFP would take concrete actions to show their support, such as campaigning for Wang, Liao said that would depend on the development of his campaign and on public opinion.

"The votes are in the hands of the voters. The PFP should consider the opinions of our supporters too," Liao said.

The Taipei County commissioner race is expected to be an uphill battle for Su's challenger.

In opinion polls released so far, Su's approval rating has been the highest among all potential contestants.

As shown in the polls released by the KMT and New Party yesterday, which were conducted by two different polling companies, Su's approval rating ranged from 36.49 percent to 39.69 percent, leading Wang by 11.7 to 13.74 percentage points.

Wang's polls showed his support ratings ranging between 24.79 percent and 25.95 percent.

Su yesterday said the outcome of the polls showed that the so-called "opposition alliance" does not exist at all, especially in light of the fact that the PFP had refused to join the polling.

Su said Wang's participation in the race will not affect his campaign strategy.

"The party affiliation of candidates isn't important in a county commissioner's election.

"The candidate who is the most enthusiastic about serving the people, most experienced and most familiar with county administration will gain the public's support," Su said.
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