Ditch Lu to win race, Chen told

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) is a liability to Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign for reelection, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker said yesterday.

That was the message yesterday from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), a day after DPP lawmakers took the president to task over his choice of running mate.

On Tuesday, Lee and 12 DPP comrades unveiled at the legislature a petition signed by 29 lawmakers expressing concern over Chen's selection of his presidential running mate.

A week earlier, Chen had intimated that he would choose Lu as his running mate again.

When presenting the petition, the DPP lawmakers advised that the president must make a careful decision about who should be his running mate next year, saying the ideal candidate must be one who not only could work with Chen but increased the chances of the ticket's winning the election.

The lawmakers did not specifically say that they were opposed to Lu, some even going out of their way to dispel rumors to that effect. Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) said, "The petition is not intended to oppose anyone,

But following comments by Lu to the effect that she would be willing to sign the petition giving advice to the president about his selection herself, Lee brought the hidden anti-Lu message out into the open.

"We strongly disagree with Vice President Lu running with the president in next year's presidential election," Lee said.

"We disagree with selecting Lu ... because we really want to win the election," Lee said.

A presidential ticket composed Chen and Lu would have the least hope for the DPP's retention of the presidency next year, Lee said.

"Most opinion polls conducted in the past six months on the next presidential election, show that the Chen-Lu combination behind the pan-blue presidential candidates but also getting even the lowest support of the various combinations of DPP vice presidential potentials with Chen," Lee said.

"We have seen public dissatisfaction with the vice president's coordination with President Chen ever since the party came to power three years ago," Lee said.

Lee described a Chen-Lu combination s hopeless.

Legislator Chiu Chui-chen (邱垂貞), a staunch upholder of Lu, asked, however, that his DPP fellows would stay calm. "The issue should not be exaggerated to hurt the ruling party's image," Chiu urged.