The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) denied a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language China Times saying that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has decided to run as the party’s candidate in Sinbei City in November’s special municipality elections.
Who might stand as the DPP mayoral candidate for Sinbei City has sparked increasing speculation since party officials announced they were pushing back the nomination deadline to next Wednesday.
The China Times article quoted unnamed sources as saying that Tsai came to the decision after a phone call from former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) during which Lee asked her to take up the DPP mantle.
Saying that the conversation also involved calls from a number of former government ministers, the report said that Tsai would officially announce her intention to run after the DPP’s chairpersonship election is concluded tomorrow.
A statement released by Tsai yesterday strongly denied the article, saying it was “untrue and unsubstantiated.”
Clarifying the remarks, DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said that while Lee did recently phone Tsai, the conversation did not center around Tsai’s participation in the election.
“Lee did not take a position regarding Tsai’s participation in the election. Moreover, he definitely did not try and convince her to run in Sinbei City,” Lin said.
Both Tsai and former premier Yu Shyi-kun are believed to be under consideration by the DPP’s nine-person nomination team as possible candidates for Sinbei City, where they would be up against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate, former vice premier Eric Chu (朱立倫).
Sources say that whether or not Tsai should run has sparked a bitter debate within the DPP, with a number of party officials and lawmakers all supporting her nomination, which they say would boost the party’s overall chances in the year-end elections.
Tsai has so far refused to comment on the issue, save for saying earlier that she was under consideration by the nomination team.
Speaking yesterday, former Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) called on the public to “give Tsai more time,” adding that there are a number of factors at play. He did not elaborate.
The finalized list of the DPP’s nominees for the year-end elections, set to take place on Nov. 27, will be announced on May 26. Party officials said that the five candidates will appear in a joint televised session soon after a decision has been made.
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