Incumbent Kaohsiung City mayor and DPP mayoral candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that the latest failure of the pan-blue team's effort to field a joint candidate proves that neither the KMT nor the PFP care about the welfare of Kaohsiung residents.
"The spirit of politics should be to provide a vision in the interest of the people instead of conspiring against a particular politician," Hsieh said while campaigning yesterday. "Those candidates or political parties' tricks are bound to fail."
Hsieh, however, urged his supporters not to be complacent nor to expect victory because rumors have been spread and malicious anonymous letters have been sent carrying accusations that Hsieh's administration is guilty of bribery.
DPP headquarters also warned that though the blue camp's efforts to persuade two independent candidates to withdraw from the campaign have failed for the time being, KMT candidate Huang Chun-ying's (
"Those malicious measures have had some negative impact on our campaign," DPP Central Standing Committee member Trong Tsai (蔡同榮) said. "Recent public polls show that KMT's Huang has narrowed the gap between him and Hsieh."
According to a recent media poll, Huang's rating is less than 10 percentage points behind Hsieh, breaking a double-digit gap. The poll has Hsieh in the lead with a support rating of 34.9 percent, followed by Huang's 30.4 percent. Independent candidate Chang Po-ya (張博雅) along with independent and former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) lagged behind with 6.1 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Huang stressed yesterday that he will keep on seeking opportunities to communicate with other contenders, adding it should be KMT leaders who decide whether he will drop out from the election campaign, not himself.
Shih also declared that the negotiation mechanism between him, Huang and Chang -- former minister of the interior who is endorsed by the PFP -- is no longer working.
A secret meeting held on Monday night between three pan-blue Kaohsiung mayoral candidates to decide which one should represent the camp and compete against DPP's Hsieh broke off without a resolution
Shih held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to confirm that during the meeting both Huang and Chang refused to withdraw from the campaign and declared that a war was on between the candidates.
"I will absolutely fight to the last minute," Shih said yesterday. "Chang and Huang are no longer my partners."
With candidates' supporters posing obstacles to pan-blue cooperation, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday remained ambiguous as to which candidate his party supports.
"I must listen to more suggestions from the grassroots and the PFP may formally announce its choice before the end of this week," Soong said when campaigning for PFP candidates for Kaohsiung City councilors yesterday.
Soong had already pledged to organize a "save Taiwan" alliance after the mayoral and councilors' election on Dec. 7, stressing that he will invite Chang and Shih to join his team.
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