DPP's candidate for Taipei mayor says he'll catch up to Ma

Although he may be 37 percentage points behind incumbent Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the DPP's Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) says the race for Taipei mayor has yet to begin.

Lee, currently the secretary-general of the Cabinet, plans to step down from his post on June 25 to officially start his campaign.

But for now, it's "unfair" to compare him to Ma or draw conclusions from opinion polls, Lee said.

Lee said he's confident that by election day, the gap between him and his opponent will be less than 10 percentage points.

Lee promised "a happy election and an efficient team" and stressed that his campaign team will follow high standards.

The Cabinet secretary-general also said that he has been busy helping Premier Yu Shyi-kun with disaster relief efforts and hasn't had the time to ask President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for campaign instructions.

But his campaign team will certainly follow the president's line, Lee said.

Lee last week visited former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in order to gain his support in the election campaign.

Lee Teng-hui and his daughter, Annie Lee (李安妮), have pledged their support to the DPP's choice and promised to participate in his campaign.

Lee said he gets along with the former president very well and the elder Lee cares very much for Taiwan's next generation.

The DPP will officially ask Lee to run for Taipei mayor on the party's ticket toward the end of this month.

Much of the campaign will be handled by government and DPP officials.

There are reports that top leaders will ask Hung Chi-chang (洪奇昌) of the party's New Tide faction to manage the campaign and coordinate assistance from legislators and party officials.

Judging from the scope of Lee's team, resources and planned dinners, his campaign will match the efforts of Chen Shui-bian's bid to hold onto the office of Taipei mayor in 1998.

Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵), who was in charge of finances during Chen's campaign, will also take charge of Lee's campaign finances. Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), a member of Chen's Justice Alliance, will also stump for Lee.