The pan-green camp yesterday announced that former Chiayi mayor Chen Li-chen (陳麗貞) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will be their candidate for the Chiayi City legislative by-election to be held next month.
Chen won the endorsement after she narrowly beat Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) candidate Ling Tzu-chu (
Chen will represent the pan-green camp in the election to fill the vacancy left by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠), who gave up the seat after winning the Chiayi mayoral election last December.
The KMT has nominated Chiang Yi-hsiung (江義雄), a law professor from Chiayi's National Chung Cheng University.
In a bid to ensure the pan-green camp's success in the by-election, the DPP and the TSU agreed to nominate a single candidate based on the result of the public poll. Both parties consented to campaign for the one who received the most support.
At yesterday's news conference, which was held jointly by the both parties, TSU Secretary-General Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said the poll conducted on Monday showed that out of the 1,680 phone calls made, Chen obtained a 33.1 percent support rate and Ling 32.71 percent.
"The DPP appreciates the TSU's cooperation and we believe that this good beginning will help the pan-green camp to win the by-election," DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
After the news conference, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun held a short meeting with Chen.
"If Chen wins the by-election, the pan-blue camp will lose its legislative majority. Therefore, the Chiayi City legislative seat is crucial to the legislative balance," Yu said after the meeting.
DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said that because Chen had failed in her re-election bid for mayor last year, many Chiayi citizens felt they owed her. The DPP was therefore confident she would win the by-election.
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