Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung Chapter director Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to represent the party in the Kaohsiung mayoral election on Nov. 24, after winning the party’s primary yesterday.
KMT Organizational Development Committee director Lee Che-hua (李哲華) yesterday announced the primary result at KMT headquarters in Taipei, after two polling firms conducted three surveys from Friday to Sunday to gauge support for Han and KMT Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民) among Kaohsiung voters.
Lee declared Han as the winner in the primary polls, but did not disclose the actual support ratings measured by the poll.
However, a KMT member with knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Han had garnered an average support rating of 64.8 percent, against Chen’s 35.1 percent.
The KMT is to officially nominate Han as its Kaohsiung mayoral candidate at a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee tomorrow.
Han, now 60, served three terms as a lawmaker from 1993 to 2002. After a failed bid to run for KMT chairman in May last year, he was elected director of the party’s Kaohsiung chapter in August last year.
Han is set to compete against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), a five-term lawmaker, in a traditionally pan-green city that has been governed by DPP mayors since 1998.
Speaking at a news conference at KMT headquarters following the announcement, Han said that his plan is to fight poverty in Kaohsiung and boost the city’s economic development.
“Although the DPP has contributed its share to the nation’s democracy, the people of Kaohsiung do not owe the DPP anything for turning Kaohsiung into a poor and old city over its 20 years of administration,” Han said.
According to statistics from the National Treasury Administration, Kaohsiung is the most indebted administrative area in Taiwan, having accumulated NT$248 billion (US$8.2 billion) in debt as of fiscal year 2017, followed by Taipei, with a debt of NT$191 billion, and New Taipei City, with a debt of NT$135 billion.
Urging Chen to ensure a clean election, Han said he aspired to leave the political clamor to Taipei and transform Kaohsiung into Taiwan’s economic center, free from political ideologies.
In response, Chen, who received the DPP’s nomination in March, said he looked forward to engaging in a gentlemen’s fight with Han.
Additional reporting by CNA
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