Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) yesterday said that the party would pick its candidates for next year’s elections in regions where its members are seeking re-election by the end of November.
The DPP Electoral Strategy Committee is about to begin phase two of preparations for the special municipality and city and county council elections after it enlisted DPP Central Standing Committee member Cheng Hung-hui (鄭宏輝) and Central Executive Committee member Chen Mao-sung (陳茂松) to work with it, Hung said.
The committee has also hired New Vision Foundation chief executive Chiou Yi-jen (邱義仁) — a former National Security Council secretary-general, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Jason Liu (劉建忻) and General Association of Chinese Culture secretary-general Lin Ching-chang (林錦昌) as consultants, he said.
The DPP Electoral Strategy Committee will divide its work into three categories, he said.
In constituencies where a DPP member is seeking re-election, it would complete the necessary preparatory work to compile a list of candidates for the Central Executive Committee’s approval before the end of November, Hung said.
For “difficult” constituencies, which include Taipei and New Taipei City, Hung said that coordination to decide on candidates is under way.
The DPP would not make a decision about working with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) any time soon, he said, mentioning the time it took to decide how to handle Ko ahead of the 2014 mayoral election.
“Anything could happen,” he said.
For constituencies where a DPP mayor or commissioner has served two consecutive terms and must step down — according to the party’s rules — the Electoral Strategy Committee would talk to DPP members who might be interested in running before the party holds its primary, he said.
He rejected news reports that said the party would hold its primary in March, saying that it has yet to decide on a date.
According to the rules set by the DPP headquarters, current city and county councilors, lawmakers and committee members who are interested in running for a mayoral or county commissioner post must renounce their current posts a year ahead of the mayoral and commissioner inaugural date, which means by Dec 25 this year, Hung said.
He also said that the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the DPP would join forces to campaign for DPP candidates next year.
Asked by reporters if he was worried that the DPP’s rivals might accuse it of inappropriately using government resources for the elections, Hung said he was not.
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