Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) shot back at reporters that their “imagination was too vivid” after they suggested former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) would be her running mate.
Tsai has been tight-lipped about her possible selections, with an announcement not expected until some time in the middle of next month. Sources close to the candidate say she has had trouble making a decision and has expressed a willingness to go outside the party for a potential running mate.
Perhaps attempting to capitalize on her perceived indecisiveness, Hsieh, the party’s losing presidential candidate in 2008, dropped suggestions about facing off against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) running mate, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), over the weekend.
At a high-profile media event on Saturday, Hsieh led dozens of supporters, including several former DPP lawmakers, in pledging support for the DPP candidate. Tsai also showed up at the gathering, named by Hsieh’s office the “[Hsieh] supports Tsai club.”
Speaking at the event, Hsieh, a former Kaohsiung mayor who vowed to withdraw from politics following his 2008 presidential defeat, said he was “very knowledgeable” about Wu, his predecessor in the city.
“In the past, it was Wu who attacked me the most,” Hsieh said, adding that he handed Wu his first electoral defeat in the 1998 Kaohsiung City elections. “We have fought several election campaigns against each other. I know him well and that will be of help to the upcoming election campaign.”
Political observers and media commentators pounced on the remarks as an indication that Hsieh is open to a vice-presidential offer.
The two DPP politicians appeared at another event yesterday. Hsieh was unwilling to respond when asked about the matter, but expounded on Saturday’s comments by saying that he was “very familiar with [the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT)] negative election tactics” and listed off a list of grievances he had against Wu.
Asked a related question on her vice-presidential pick, Tsai remained tight-lipped, saying she has not excluded “any type of possibility.”
She said her running mate would not be prone to making political attacks and would be adept at explaining her policies to the public.
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