Chang upbeat about vote

PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), hoping to become the joint KMT-PFP candidate in the year-end Kaohsiung mayoral race, said yesterday he was optimistic about the "pan-blue" camp's chances of defeating DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).

Chang said Hsieh's public approval rating was around 40 percent, which indicated that most residents of Kaohsiung did not approve of Hsieh's performance over the past three years.

The "pan-blue" camp should therefore have a good chance of winning if it makes sure it fields only one candidate to take on Hsieh, Chang said.

Although the KMT has yet to pick a candidate from its three aspirants, Chang said he would not meddle in the KMT's selection process so as to maintain an amiable atmosphere of cooperation between the two parties.

The three KMT aspirants 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 Chang for the KMT-PFP joint candidacy.

Results of opinion polls on the three KMT contestants, which were released on Tuesday, showed that Huang Jun-ying -- favored by the party leadership -- was least favored among the public. Huang Chi-chuan came top in the polls.

Though the polls are not the only criterion in the selection process, the party risks alienating the other two candidates if it insists on picking him.

KMT members who have felt betrayed by the party's selection process in the past have gone on to contest elections against the party's candidate, sometimes making it easier for the DPP candidate to win.

James Chen (陳健治), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, said he will report the poll results to the party's nine-member nomination review committee.

If possible, the committee members will visit Kaohsiung to collect other information to help them make a decision, Chen said.