Dismissing yet another allegation that his team is having problems with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the party is uniting its forces to support his re-election bid in November’s Taipei mayoral election.
Hau’s campaign team held a closed-door meeting with KMT officials on Friday night discussing election campaign strategies. The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) had complained during the meeting about criticism from within the party against Hau and his top aides and urged party headquarters to take action against those members.
In the meeting, Lee defended how city officials had handled disputes over the Xinsheng Overpass reconstruction project and the upcoming Taipei International Flora Expo, and began to cry when discussing the pressure the team had faced recently, the report said.
PHOTO: CNA
Hau yesterday denied Lee wanted the party to take action against party members who had spoken against him and his aides. Hau said the party has been working with his campaign team to fight the battle.
“We respect any criticisms even if they are from within the party and right now our priority is to organize the expo and strive for voters’ support,” he said on the sidelines of a bicycle event at Taipei Stadium.
The allegations about problematic relations between Hau and the KMT surfaced after some party members including Lin Huo-wang (林火旺), a former aide to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), suggested that Hau drop out of the race and the KMT field another candidate if it wanted to win the mayoral election in Taipei.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) brushed off the comments, and said the party will not replace Hau as its Taipei mayoral candidate.
To boost Hau’s poll numbers, the KMT will hold regular meetings with the mayor’s campaign team to discuss election strategy. The party has also asked party legislators to join campaign efforts by attacking Hau’s opponent, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
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