President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, is to begin stumping for the party’s mayoral and county commissioner candidates nationwide following its National Congress tomorrow, party sources said yesterday.
The party’s National Congress, centered on the theme “Reform for future generations,” is to be the first large campaign rally for the November local elections after the party’s primary ended last month.
To imitate the glitz of the FIFA World Cup, soccer cards are to be made for 19 DPP mayoral and commissioner candidates and independent Miaoli commissioner candidate Hsu Ting-chen (徐定禎), the sources said, adding that the 20 candidates are to enter the venue one after another as DPP party representatives cheer them on, just as soccer players would before a game.
Governance is like a soccer match, which requires a unified team and a unified goal, the sources said, adding that DPP-backed candidates are like a soccer team, with each incumbent and first-time candidate playing a different role to achieve that goal.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) drafted the mission statement for the congress: “Press on for reforms for Taiwan’s future.”
After the congress, Tsai is to embark on a nationwide tour to boost her support for DPP candidates, the sources said.
The president is to go on another nationwide tour next month and is to continue lending her support to the candidates, they said.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) is also expected to assist in the elections after the congress by visiting different parts of the nation to trumpet the DPP’s governance.
Coming on the heels of the congress are the elections of DPP Central Execution Committee and Central Evaluation Committee members.
Thirty DPP Central Executive Committee members are to be elected, of which 10 are to be elected to the DPP Central Standing Committee (CSC), the party’s highest decisionmaking body.
The CSC election has traditionally been plagued by vote exchanging, whereby factions reach agreements to vote for candidates backed by one another to generate more votes.
However, given that there are only 30 DPP members running for seats in the 30-member Central Executive Committee, vote exchanging ahead of the CSC election could prove to have a lesser effect on the result.
In a break from past practice, DPP mayors and commissioners who have delivered good performance in office are to attend campaign rallies outside their jurisdiction to leverage support for one another and for other DPP-backed candidates, the sources said.
Top DPP executives would be assigned to cities and counties to oversee campaigns and develop campaign strategies, they said.
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