The People First Party (PFP) — apart from a plan to hold three large-scale rallies in southern, central and northern Taiwan — has also decided to emphasize its campaign focus in central Taiwan, party officials said yesterday.
According to the PFP, central Taiwan was the headquarters of PFP presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) when he was provincial governor, so the PFP has many contacts in central Taiwan.
Aside from Hualien, Soong and his running mate, Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄), would be able to garner a considerable amount of votes in the central part of the country, they said.
The PFP’s national campaign headquarters has designated Jan. 7 for the first rally, which will be held on the plaza opposite Greater Tainan’s “Flower Garden” night market, while the second rally will be held at the 228 Memorial Park in Taipei on Jan. 11 and the last in Greater Taichung the night of Jan. 13.
PFP officials said there was no need to mobilize transport for supporters attending the second rally.
While central Taiwan has been perceived by both the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as the key deciding factor in the Jan. 14 presidential election, the PFP would also do its utmost to win as many votes as possible in the region, they said.
In response to questions on whether the PFP, a KMT splinter group that formed after the 2000 presidential election, would pose a threat to the KMT, PFP officials said that given the two parties were independent parties, winning the election was a matter of each of their own efforts.
If the KMT’s votes are siphoned away by the PFP, then the KMT is the one that should reflect on the cause, PFP officials said.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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