Taipei mayoral candidates start hitting campaign trail

During an inspection trip to Lee's hometown of Loonpei, Yunlin County, on June 12, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) named one of the honeydew melons handpicked by him "Ying-yuan melon" and called on the villagers to support one of their own.

"Just like the honeydew melons which grow in the difficult environment [in Yunlin], he [Lee] has suffered hardship during his childhood but has persevered and been successful," he said.

Chen's electioneering, however, drew criticism from the KMT, which castigated Chen for promoting a DPP candidate while supposedly on presidential business.

In response, Lee said that it was natural for a party to utilize its resources to assist the campaign activities of its candidate.

"I believe the KMT would do the same thing for him [Ma], wouldn't it?" he said. "As I'm sincerely wishing him good luck in his re-election bid, I hope he'd be as generous and do the same [for me]."

Lee also criticized Ma's remark about the government and the DPP supporting Lee as "inappropriate" and "irresponsible."

"I don't think it's appropriate for Ma to make such a remark since he's such a popular political star and a role model for many young people," Lee said. "It's an irresponsible tactic to shift the blame on to the government simply because he has a hard time showing to the public what he has achieved over the past three years."

In addition to the support from the Presidential Office, the government and his own party, Lee is expected to receive the full support of the DPP's fledgling ally, the TSU.

The party's spiritual leader, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), publicly offered his support to Lee Ying-yuan during a dinner party on Saturday.

The senior Lee yesterday also publicly praised the younger Lee as a "nice individual" and an "exceptional candidate" after a scholarship-awarding ceremony for Aboriginal students.

Hsiao Kwan-yu (蕭貫譽), director of the the TSU's Department of Culture and Information, said yesterday that the party is scheduled to officially throw its weight behind Lee Ying-yuan at its next Central Executive Committee meeting.

"He's a better candidate than Ma in many ways and we would be happy to see him elected," Hsiao said.

Lee Ying-yuan said that he was confident of soon getting within 30,000 to 50,000 votes of Ma.

"When I first returned from [my post as] the deputy representative to the US in February, my approval rating was only 9 percent," he said. "Three weeks later it jumped to 18 percent, and a June 7 opinion poll put my popularity rating at 26 percent. I'm sure there's still room to grow."