Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday visited former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), seeking his support for her presidential bid.
Often seen as rivals for the party’s leadership and presidential nomination, Tsai and Su yesterday met behind closed doors for nearly an hour, during which Su promised to throw his support behind Tsai and reserve no effort in helping her on the campaign trail.
“The DPP has been in power before, and there have been pluses and minuses,” Su told a brief press conference after the meeting. “We have to face those honestly and make improvements so that people would feel it.”
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
“Tsai is more prepared than the last time,” he said. “I am confident that she will win this time, and I will reserve no effort to give her support, along with my best wishes.”
He told Tsai that although winning is important, it is more important to do the job well, for a victory is only one day, but the job would last for four or eight years.
“Taiwanese have been suffering for a long time, so they are looking forward to changes and have high expectations of Tsai,” Su said. “Tsai carries the responsibility not only to win the campaign for the party, but to fulfill the public’s expectations.”
Tsai praised Su as an experienced political leader, adding that they had exchanged a lot of ideas.
She thanked Su for his opinions and reminders.
Tsai said that Su’s presence was “a must in the campaign and in the government after the election,” though they did speak about a specific position for Su if the election went their way.
Asked about former minister of health Yaung Chih-liang’s (楊志良) announcement that he is joining the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary, Tsai said that she would not comment on KMT internal affairs.
As for a report by the Chinese-language United Evening News saying she would visit the US in June, Tsai said that she is preparing for a trip to the US, but would reveal the details, including the date, when everything is ready.
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