Print

Mail

wiki links

Pan-blue camp agrees on some candidates

KMT Organization and Development Committee chief Liao Feng-teh, right, KMT Legislator Huang Ming-hui, second right, who is a candidate for mayor of Chiayi, PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng, left, and Li Yun-chieh raise their hands yesterday after announcing that Li would drop out of the race. PHOTO: WANG MING-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES

Efforts to integrate the pan-blue camp for the year-end elections continued yesterday with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) agreeing on candidates for Taipei and Lienchiang counties, as well as Chiayi City, on the last day for candidate registration.

KMT Organization and Development Committee chief Liao Feng-teh (廖風德) visited PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生) yesterday morning to once again discuss the pan-blue integration.

Yesterday also marked the last day for any aspirants wishing to run for city and county heads and councilmen, as well as village and township heads, to register for the Dec. 3 elections.

After their meeting, Liao and Chin announced the two parties had agreed to support KMT Legislator Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠) as their candidate for mayor of Chiayi. In Lienchiang County, the KMT will support the re-election bid of Commissioner Chen Hsue-sheng (陳雪生), a member of the PFP. In return, the PFP's candidates in Hsinchu and Ilan counties will pull out of those races and support the KMT's candidates instead.

In Taipei County, which has the most voters and is therefore seen as an important battle zone, PFP member Wang An-bang (王安邦) agreed to withdraw yesterday in favor of the KMT's candidate, Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋).

The pan-blue camp could not agree, however, on a single candidate for Keelung, Hualien or Miaoli counties, or Taichung City and Ilan City.

Chin said that although the pan-blue camp's integration hasn't been smooth, and the KMT had "responded to the PFP's sincerity with cold-heartedness" in refusing to give up the Miaoli County race, he would continue to make an effort to cooperate with Liao to win the year-end elections for the pan-blue camp.

Shrugging off Chin's comments, Liao said the KMT had been making every effort to facilitate unity in the pan-blue camp.

He promised to monitor the situation in the five cities and counties where the parties remain divided, and seek further cooperation with PFP in order to win the elections.

Meanwhile, the integration of the pan-green camp seemed to be going more smoothly.

With the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) nominee for the Keelung mayoral election, Wang Tuoh (王拓), having withdrawn from the race to support the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) nominee Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) on Monday evening, the pan-green camp agreed on the final candidates to represent it in every city and county, except Tainan City and Chiayi City.
This story has been viewed 2106 times.