People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
"The ability to lead the city and a willingness to serve the public are the most important traits in a mayoral candidate. Age should not be a concern," he said.
NOT FAIR
Soong made the remarks yesterday at CKS International Airport before heading for London. Soong was furious over some Chinese-language newspaper editorials which said that, at the age of 63, he is too old to run in the next Taipei mayoral election. He said that age should never be an issue in any election, and bemoaned what he described as the "unfair treatment" he has received.
"When Lien Chan (
He also denied media reports that the PFP will be dissolved soon, and that it plans to threaten the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with passing the arms-procurement bill.
"If the PFP is going to be dissolved, how can we threaten the KMT? The PFP voted against the bill simply because we question the proposed budget and the cost of the weapons," he argued.
THE LEE FACTOR
At the airport to send Soong off, PFP Legislator Diane Lee (
"Taipei citizens are very smart, and they want a capable leader. So a candidate's ability should be the focus of next year's mayoral election," she said.
Although he defended himself on the age issue, Soong still declined to say whether he would run in the race.
"If I don't run as the party's mayoral candidate, Diane will run in the race. We will talk about this and then come up with a decision later," he said.
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