With seven months left in the run-up to the year-end Taipei mayoral elections, critics expressed divided views over the DPP's failure to announce a candidate to run against popular Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
While some said that the DPP simply cannot find a suitable candidate to fight the uphill battle, others said that the delay of the nomination is just part of the party's campaign strategy designed to win at the polls.
"I don't think it's too late to name the potential candidates even by July, " said Lee Kuo-hsiung (李國雄), deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University. "The longer it looms, the more suspense it creates."
PFP legislative whip Chin Huei-chu (
"The DPP hesitates to make public its potential candidates because it cannot find any member who's willing to embarrass himself or herself to run in a race that is difficult to win," she said.
In addition to Ma's high approval rating, Chin said, it is a fact that the "pan-blue" camp receives comparatively more voter support than the "pan-green" camp in Taipei City, where a large portion of the population is mainlanders.
"However, politics is so unpredictable that it's simply too early to tell who will eventually win the game," Chin said.
The DPP's ad hoc campaign team finalized the recommendation list of potential candidates on Friday. It did not, however, reveal the number of possible candidates it recommended or their names.
The list was made for the reference of incoming DPP chairman and President Chen Shui-bian (
The two are scheduled to make public their chosen candidate sometime in May for final approval by the party's Central Executive Committee on May 28.
Michael You (
Speculation is mounting that potential candidates may include Cabinet Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
Previously, DPP lawmaker Mark Chen (陳唐山), Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) and Chairwoman of the Council for Hakka Affairs Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) were believed to be on the list.
DPP lawmaker Lin Chung-mo (
Lee Kuo-hsiung said that he believes it is part of the DPP's campaign strategy to remain tight-lipped about the potential candidates and that the party has a pool of talent to choose from.
"I don't think it has a hard time in finding suitable candidates within its ranks. Instead, I think the public is so anxious to know who the potential candidates are because it has great expectations from the party," Lee said.
He also dismissed the talk that the delay would have a negative impact on the party.
"Don't forget, the DPP knows well about campaign psychology and what the electorate wants," he said.
Although the party has put forth five criteria for its qualified candidates to meet, it seems Taipei residents care more about whether the DPP's candidate is as handsome as Ma.
Lee, however, said that he does not think Taipei residents are that shallow.
"Ma does have a nice-looking face and possesses political resources. However, he's only human and has made some mistakes," Lee said.
To be a qualified candidate, the party has said that the person has to have the guts to push for reforms and enjoy a sound reputation and public image.
In addition, the person must have the ability to handle crises, have strong leadership skills and be skilled at negotiation.
Finally, the person must have a clear vision of the city's future.
Citing a recent example of the Taipei City Government's decision to postpone the borough-warden polls, Lee said that the city's defeat may prove a boon to the DPP.
"The party has located Ma's Achilles' heel and will deliver a deadly blow to the KMT's popular rising star," Lee said.
The Executive Yuan on Thursday overruled the Taipei City government's postponement of the borough-warden elections, claiming that the city's reason to postpone the election compromises the voting rights of the city's citizens.
Following the Executive Yuan's decision, the city government announced its decision to apply for an interpretation by the Council of the Grand Justices on the Law on Local Government Systems.
The KMT-dominated city council decided on April 3 to defer the borough-warden elections, originally slated for June 8, until a redrawing of Taipei's borough boundaries was completed.
The city argued that the right to change the date of local elections is an inherent right of local governments.
Commenting on the city's defeat, Chin said that although it is an embarrassing setback for Ma, it may not adversely affect Ma's re-election bid.
"I believe Taipei residents are forgiving, although recent opinion polls have shown that many of the residents didn't approve of the city's decision to postpone the elections," Chin said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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