The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday passed a resolution requiring successful legislative candidates in December's elections to forgo contesting city mayor and county commissioner elections next year.
The resolution, which was passed at a Central Executive Committee meeting yesterday, attempts to stabilize the party's legislative representation in what is expected to be a close race.
The resolution states that candidates who intend to run in the December contest should sign a document before the party primaries on May 23 that would waive their entitlement to run for city mayor or county commissioner next year.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday said the move was intended to maintain the DPP's seats in the legislature as it works to gain a majority in league with its partner, the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
"Those who are interested in running for the 2004 legislative election and 2005 city-mayor and county-commissioner elections should choose to participate in only one of them," Lee said.
"Each legislative seat is precious to us, and we won't allow our lawmakers to quit and run for another election in the middle of their tenure, an action which might jeopardize the party's strength in the legislature," he said.
The resolution only applies to those who wish to run for local-constituency seats, because vacancies are not automatically filled by a candidate from the same party. Only vacancies for legislators-at-large can be filled in this fashion.
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