The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Keelung branch has decided on four possible candidates for a in the Keelung mayoral by-election in early May.
After a two-hour meeting of local staffers late on Thursday afternoon, the Keelung branch decided to send the names of four candidates -- former Keelung city councilor Su Jen-he (蘇仁和), current Keelung City Councilor Chen Chih-cheng (陳志成), Shy Shyh-ming (施世明) and You Shtang-yaw (游祥耀) -- over to the DPP's Central Executive Committee for further discussion on Tuesday.
"We hope, in next week's Central Executive Committee meeting, we will decide on a final candidate who can win the election on behalf of the party," DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正) said after the meeting.
DPP Keelung branch Director Yu Hsiang-hui (游祥惠) said that out of the party's long list of talented potential candidates, the four that were selected have the best chance of winning the by-election.
"We definitely have to win this time," he said.
The by-election is scheduled to be held on May 12 after Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (
Hsu was serving his second mayoral term after he was re-elected in 2005. Hsu was a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
According to the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (
The upcoming mayoral bid created a division in the pan-blue camp on Wednesday as the KMT insisted on electing a candidate through the KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance rather than yielding the candidate nomination to the PFP.
PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (
However, KMT members including current Keelung City Council Speaker Chang Tong-rong (