Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday rejected reports that he would soon announce his decision to run for Kaohsiung mayor.
While expressing his appreciation for "outporings of support for such a move," Shih said he has not yet made up his mind as to how he would "infuse running water" into Taiwan's political scene.
Shih clarified his stance in a written statement after his rumored decision to stand in the Kaohsiung mayoral race -- against DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) -- made headlines in the city's newspapers.
The newspaper reports said that Shih had sought the support of the KMT and the People First Party for his bid, and that he was expected to make an announcement in a couple of weeks.
The reports said Shih wanted to link up with the PFP with the help of a senior PFP legislator, Liu Sung-pan (劉松藩).
Shih, who started his political career as a pro-democracy activist and was jailed during the martial-law era, has remained an independent since he quit the DPP in the year 2000.
In the statement Shih confirmed that, since his defeat in last December's legislative elections, he has received various job offers.
These included offers for him to head a school and a company -- and calls for him to run for the Kaohsiung mayoralty -- and even calls for him to run in the 2004 presidential elections, Shih said.
Shih said he has handed all these suggestions to his staff for evaluation.
But KMT and PFP officials yesterday denied any knowledge of plans to recommend Shih for the race.
PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉) said the KMT and PFP have agreed to cooperate in the Kaohsiung race -- and the PFP will not give up on any candidate whom the party considers suitable.
The PFP is still working hard to persuade its vice chairman, Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), to join the campaign, Hsieh said.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), on the other hand, said his party's Kaohsiung City branch is still actively looking for a candidate.
Lin said that the prospective candidate has to obtain the joint endorsement of the KMT and the PFP to have a good chance of winning the race.
The KMT has favored Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英), a former deputy mayor of Kaohsiung and currently the vice president of the I-Shou University.
But Huang yesterday said he has no intention of running in the race.
But Pan Chia-sen (潘家森), head of the KMT's Kaohsiung City branch, said it is "impossible" that the party would agree to let Shih represent the "pan-blue" camp in the year-end elections.
Pan said that I-Shou University's Huang and Huang Chi-chuan (黃啟川), speaker of the Kaohsiung City Council, are presently the two possible candidates targeted by the KMT's leadership.
RSS