President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited Nantou County with his re-election bid running mate, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), seeking to expand his support base in central and southern Taiwan as a major strategy for the presidential election campaign.
Ma and Wu attended the launching ceremony of a railway line at Jiji (集集) Station yesterday, defending the government’s efforts to promote tourism in the area.
Addressing the ceremony, Ma, who doubles as the Chinese -Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, said the Taipei City Government helped raised money to rebuild Jiji Township in the wake of the 921 Earthquake 10 years ago, and it was happy that the town has turned into a popular tourist destination.
Wu, a former Nantou County commissioner, said 5 million tourists visited the county last year.
“It’s all because of the president’s policies that the county enjoyed a booming tourism industry,” he said.
The presidential and vice presidential candidates also visited businesses in Nantou and met with representatives of industrial districts of the county, where Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential nominee Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) also made an appearance yesterday.
As southern cities and counties continue to be considered pan-green strongholds, the KMT is focusing on the south.
With January’s presidential election approaching, Ma and Wu have been making joint efforts to tour around the nation campaigning for their presidential and vice presidential ticket while attacking Tsai and the DPP over the previous government’s corruption and bribery scandals.
King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), executive director of Ma’s campaign office, said that support in the south would be crucial for the KMT in the presidential election because political support bases in northern and central Taiwan were more consolidated.
The campaign office will arrange frequent trips to southern Taiwan for Ma and Wu, he said.
King added that Ma’s national re-election headquarters will open in November.
Former SET News anchor Lee You-lung (李猶龍) will be invited to head the press department of the planned office, King said, adding that Chan Chun-po (詹春柏), a vice chairman of the KMT, has been assigned to assist in the establishment of the national campaign headquarters.
Ma’s re-election campaign was officially launched on June 13. King said they were finalizing the campaign team for many different functions, including new media, creation and innovation, press and strategic planning.
Next month, the regional election base in central Taiwan will be inaugurated. Another regional office in southern Taiwan, as well as local offices in 23 counties and cities across Taiwan, will all be set up between October and November, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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