DPP decides it will use primaries to select candidates

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday announced the party would maintain its original primary election mechanism to select a candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral election. This implies that acting Kaohsiung Mayor Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) is out of the mayoral race.

To resolve the controversy over whether the DPP should use a telephone poll or a primary election to decide the party's candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral election, the DPP held a meeting yesterday to discuss the matter. The issue has caused considerable tension in the DPP.

Among those who attended the meeting were Yu, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山).

In making their decision, the DPP heavyweights took into account the opinion of former Council of Labor Affairs chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊), who has registered in the primary and was strongly opposed to selecting a party candidate based on a telephone poll alone. The meeting saw strong strong debate from the participants.

The party will hold a members' ballot on the two candidates who have signed up for the primary on May 28 as scheduled, Yu announced after the meeting.