Published on Taipei Times
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/05/29/2003257043

New Party backs Hung in Taipei

CROWDED FIELD: The party's endorsement of Hung Hsiu-chu for Commissioner of Taipei County threw the spotlight on a candidacy that had until now gotten little attention
By Caroline Hong
STAFF REPORTER WITH CNA
Sunday, May 29, 2005, Page 2

With the struggle heating up within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over who will be the party's candidate for Taipei County Commissioner, the New Party yesterday pledged to support KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) in her bid for the post.

After Hung's campaign visit to the New Party's headquarters in Taipei Friday, New Party Chairman Yok Yu-ming (郁慕明) and party Secretary-General Lee Seng-fong (李勝峰) campaigned with Hung in Taipei County yesterday.

"Having the New Party's support shows that I am the one with the ability to unite the pan-blues," Hung said yesterday.

In order to woo the New Party's support and convince pan-blue camp supporters of her worthiness, Hung paid a personal visit to Yok Friday to solicit his support for her bid.

During his visit with Hung, Yok said that he hopes that Hung will win the KMT nomination and lead the KMT to a victory in Taipei County.

Hung and Yok were members of the New KMT Alliance (新國民黨連線), an early faction of the KMT that later formed the core of the New Party when it broke away from the KMT in the early 1990s.

The New Party's support may prove crucial in Hung's effort to prove she has the mettle to become the party's candidate for Taipei County Commissioner.

She faces stiff competition from four other party hopefuls: KMT Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), Sanchung Mayor Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍), former minister of justice Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) and Wang Lin-huei (王玲惠), head of the Taipei County Federation of Chinese Businesswomen.

Hung's bid has been relatively overlooked given Chou's news-making defection from the People First Party to the KMT, or Liao's surprise registration.

Hung hinted yesterday that the party's polls weren't necessarily a good indicator of which candidate would best be able to unite the pan-blue camp in Taipei County, emphasizing that such a candidate was the necessary if the pan-blue want to win back Taipei County.

The KMT's party primary for Taipei County Commissioner is on June 5, along with those for Ilan, Changhua and Yunlin Counties and Tainan City.