Under a call for unity, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), who had previously declared his intention to run in the legislative election, announced yesterday that he would not join the party primary.
Before the announcement, the field for Taipei City’s second district, which is comprised of Shilin (士林) and Datong (大同), was crowded with four hopefuls vying for the party’s nominations — namely Tuan, former legislators Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) and Julian Kuo (郭正亮) and former Government Information Office minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智).
UNITED FRONT
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
In a bid to consolidate and form a united front, the DPP Legislatorial District Nomination Committee invited the four candidates to negotiate a solution.
While Kuo did not show up, Tuan said he would back out of the primary and the committee had accepted his decision.
Following his announcement, Tuan, accompanied by DPP Taipei City councilors Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤), Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), apologized to all his supporters.
“I have felt the expectations of the voters, but I hope the DPP spirit of ‘giving for the sake of unity’ is preserved,” Tuan said, adding that he made his decision because he did not want to see the voters torn by difficult choices in the primary.
STICK TOGETHER
Tuan said he believes the remaining three candidates for the Shihlin-Datong constituency would abide by the outcome of the party primary and win the elections “by sticking together.”
Tuan added he would not consider running in another constituency.
When asked for response to Tuan’s decision to back out, Yao said he had no comment, while Luo said he would work harder. Kuo said it was Tuan’s personal judgement of the situation.
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