New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday dismissed media reports saying that he would give up seeking re-election to prepare for the 2016 presidential election.
In response to media inquires about his reported plans to pursue the presidency in 2016, Chu said he felt “helpless” about the reports.
SET TV reported on Tuesday that Chu had been designated to succeed Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) in preparation for the presidential election, while Jiang would be nominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to run in the New Taipei City mayoral election.
Chu yesterday denied the report, saying that the KMT has set out a timeline to nominate the party’s candidate for New Taipei City mayor at the end of next month or early in July.
“We will follow this timeline,” he said.
He said he is not interested in being premier and would continue to apply himself wholeheartedly to the task of being a city mayor.
Jiang made no comment about the reports.
KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said Chu is more likely to run for re-election in November than to position himself as a presidential candidate after his mayoral tenure ends.
Chen said Chu could not afford to see the KMT lose the mayoral election because he chose not to run in the campaign.
It would not be a concern for Chu that he might come under criticism if he is re-elected as mayor, but decides to run for president before he finishes his second term because most people know that he is interested in a 2016 presidential bid, Chen said.
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