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DPP hopes to nominate its challenger to Ma by June

As the year-end Taipei mayoral election approaches, DPP headquarters said yesterday that it hopes to nominate a viable candidate by June to run against popular Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

"We have three or four potential candidates within our ranks who meet our criteria," said Michael You (游盈隆), DPP deputy secretary-general.

You, however, refused to elaborate on who those candidates might be.

"Anything is possible," You said. "We don't rule out the possibility of nominating a government official and cooperating with the TSU."

You made the remark after the first closed-door meeting of an ad hoc 15-person campaign team set up in February to handle campaign strategy for the year-end mayoral elections for Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.

The TSU recently has proposed that Annie Lee (李安妮), the youngest child of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), represent the fledgling party in the election.

Some TSU lawmakers have even proposed that the DPP jointly endorse the younger Lee if it cannot find a suitable candidate within its ranks.

DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) has said the party would nominate its own candidate but would consider someone who isn't a party member if the person is a "good and suitable" candidate.

To be a qualified candidate, You said that the person must meet five criteria.

"First of all, the person has to have the guts to push for reforms," he said. "Second, the person has to enjoy a sound reputation and public image. Third, the person must have the ability to handle crises."

In addition, the person should have strong leadership skills and be skilled at negotiation and integration. Finally, the person must have a clear vision of the city's future.

"We have confidence that we'll win the election and reclaim the city," You said.

In addition to developing the five criteria, the team also called on the DPP's extraordinary national congress to authorize the party's Central Executive Committee to enlist suitable candidates for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections.

The DPP hopes to end the process of selecting candidates through primaries because it wants to avoid the public displays of party infighting that go along with such events. Under the new scheme, the executive committee would select candidates through negotiation.

Team members also agreed to meet every two weeks to review the campaign situation and formulate campaign strategies and literature. They may call additional meetings at any time if necessary.
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