KMT to start planning for mayoral elections

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday said the party will start planning for next year's Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections as soon as possible.

The announcement was made in response to the DPP's alleged attempt to take advantage of its administrative resources to block a re-election bid by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Lien said next year's December races should be a fair fight and warned that the KMT will watch closely for possible dubious methods employed by the DPP.

Lien also urged the central government not to discriminate against KMT-ruled localities by reducing their infrastructure funding.

Lien made the remarks while meeting with leaders of a number of legislature subgroups.

According to James Chen (陳健治), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, the party is expected to finalize its mayoral candidacies between March and April next year.

On the possibility for cooperation between the KMT and People First Party (PFP) in the two mayoral races, Chen said the parties need to decide which one has the better candidates.

During yesterday's meeting, Apollo Chen (陳學聖), chief of the Reform Association (改革會), said the DPP has adopted "little tricks" in the fiscal 2002 budget, which he believes are intended to obstruct infrastructure projects that may help boost Ma's popularity.

While the central government is supposed to subsidize land acquisition expenses for the construction of the Neihu line of Taipei's mass rapid transit system, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has refused to set aside a subsidy budget, which has delayed construction work, Chen said.

A project for a multi-purpose stadium in Taipei is experiencing the same problems, Chen added.

"These little tricks used mostly against Mayor Ma, indicate that the DPP has already started to plan for next year's mayoral elections," Chen said.

Meanwhile, Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), chief of the Heroine Society (巾幗會) -- a group of female KMT lawmakers -- said the KMT would encounter the most difficulty in the Kaohsiung campaign, as all southern localities are ruled by the DPP with the exception of Yunlin County.

Huang also predicted that the DPP would pour substantial administrative resources into next year's campaigns.

Chen said the campaigns may be even more difficult for the KMT than the Dec. 1 legislative elections, in the face of competition from the PFP.

Of the 20 legislative seats available in Taipei City, the KMT won only four, while the PFP was able to garner six.

Many of the KMT's candidates, whose images mirrored their PFP competitors, failed to win re-election because the KMT's lack of identity triggered strategic voting among the electorate in favor of the PFP, Chen said.