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Presidential candidates to register for race today

Presidential candidates will formally register their candidacies at the Central Election Commission (CEC) headquarters today.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and his running mate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) are scheduled to register at 11:30am.

"They will make official statements to launch their campaign," Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), director of the news department of their campaign office, said without elaborating.

Hundreds of people representing Hakka, Aboriginal tribes and women's and youth groups will gather for a rally to support Hsieh and Su, Cheng said.

Hsieh's wife Yu Fang-chih (游芳枝) and Su's wife Chan Hsiu-ling (詹秀齡) will accompany them, Cheng said.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), will register at 10:15am. Ma's spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said Ma had been scheduled to register for the election at 11:30am, but later changed the time after the National Security Bureau suggested the camps avoid having both candidates at the venue at the same time.

Ma yesterday said he believed that political supporters planning to come out for the registrations were rational and that there would be no skirmishes.

After the registration, Ma and his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) will attend an official opening ceremony for their campaign headquarters on Aiguo W Road.

Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who will serve as the convener of Ma's supporter groups, and KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), the director of Ma's campaign office, will all attend the ceremony.

The CEC will gather to review the candidates' applications on Feb. 1 and hold a drawing to determine their ballot numbers on Feb. 15 before making a formal announcement on Feb. 20.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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