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KMT to pick Kaohsiung mayoral candidate soon

The KMT will pick before next Wednesday its choice for Kaohsiung mayor, who will then compete with the PFP's nominee to become the parties' joint candidate, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said yesterday.

After negotiations coordinated by Lin on Friday, the three KMT candidates agreed to respect the final decision reached by the party's nine-member nomination review committee.

The committee, led by KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), will meet before next Wednesday to take into account the outcome of opinion polls and other "major factors" when making its decision, Lin said.

James Chen (陳建治), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, said these "major factors" would include a competitor's potential to attract middle-of-the-road voters and their popularity among the KMT's core supporters.

The three KMT contestants for Kaohsiung mayor are former vice mayor Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英), former National Police Administration director-general Yao Kao-chiao (姚高橋) and Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Huang Chi-chuan (黃啟川).

According to a cooperation plan between the KMT and PFP, the KMT winner will compete with PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) -- the PFP's aspirant -- for the KMT-PFP joint candidacy.

The selection process has yet to be announced.

While the KMT leadership favored Huang Jun-ying among the three contestants, the opinion polls were unfavorable to him.

Survey results

According to results of the surveys, which were conducted by two different polling institutions, the average approval ratings for Huang Chi-chuan, Yao and Huang Jun-ying were 19.25 percent, 16.22 percent and 10.01 percent, respectively.

In the event of a one-on-one competition with the DPP's incumbent mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Huang Chi-chuan obtained an average support rating of 34.18 percent, compared with Hsieh's 31.34 percent.

In a Yao versus Hsieh contest, Yao won an average rating of 33.5 percent while Hsieh received 31.52 percent.

Huang vs Hsieh

In a Huang Jun-ying versus Hsieh heat, Huang got 28.67 percent while Hsieh commanded 33.22 percent.

Kaohsiung lawmaker Chiu Yi (邱毅) from the PFP urged the KMT leadership to respect the results of the polls, come to a decision soon and start negotiating with the PFP immediately.

Hsieh from the DPP yesterday cast doubts on whether the KMT-PFP cooperation plan would be successful, saying there are already enough differences for the KMT to resolve among its own members.

Hsieh said the lack of a system of coordination is the most serious problem hampering the cooperation plan.
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