Lu says that the DPP is likely to lose on Saturday

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) predicted a victory for the pan blue camp in Saturday's local government elections, and said that a party reform conference will be a top priority for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after the vote.

Since early last week, Lu has been urging her own party to carry out reforms in order to make it more competitive. Lu mentioned that recent scandals involving the DPP have seriously damaged its image.

On Monday evening, in an interview with a news program produced by Formosa Television, Lu predicted that the pan-blue camp would win the election as a whole, because it had nominated more candidates for county councilors and township representatives than the DPP.

Yesterday Lu participated in campaign activities in Sanchung City (三重) in Taipei County, on behalf of city mayoral candidate Li Yu-tien (李余典) and the party's county councilor candidates.

Lu reiterated that the DPP, as a party that is only 19 years old, would lose Saturday's competition because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has roots throughout the country that go back more than 50 years.

"No matter what, after the election, the DPP should pay more attention to designing strategies for reform," Lu said.

Lu said that Saturday's elections, which combine polls for local chiefs, county councilors and township representatives, was a reform designed by the DPP to reduce the frequency of elections.

However, Lu said that the DPP should come up with a better way to groom local politicians so that it can ensure a new generation of strong party leadership.

Lu said that the election will be a struggle between the "Taiwan spirit" and "China power," and urged voters not to give up the right to vote, which allows them to decide the nation's future.