With 40 days left in the run-up to the year-end Taipei mayoral election, President and DPP Chairman Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on the Taipei citizens to elect a city mayor of Taiwan not a chief of a special administrative region of China.
"Let's be clear here that there's one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait and that Taipei doesn't need a chief of a special administrative region of China but a city mayor of the Republic of China," Chen told a cheering crowd of some 100,000 people.
Chen made the remark during the campaign rally held at the Yuanshan No. 1 Park in Shihlin District yesterday afternoon.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The rally was the highlight of an 8.25km march led by Chen, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan (李應元). The group met up with another group led by Premier Yu Shyi-kun, his wife, Yang Pao-yu (楊寶玉), and Lee's wife, Laura Huang (黃月桂) at the park.
Likening Lee's currently weak support to his own during the 2000 presidential election campaign, Chen said he was optimistic that Lee would eventually win if voters threw their support behind him.
"Two years ago when [Annette] Lu and I were running for the presidential election, not a lot of people believed that we could win," Chen said. "However, we managed to succeed thanks to the support of those who refused to give up on us."
Chen said he was calling on each and every voter to show their support for the DPP candidate as they did for him two years ago.
"It's not merely an election for the 2 million residents of Taipei City, it's an election for all the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chen said. "With only 40 days left, please help us garner more votes starting today, no matter where you live or whether you're a Taipei citizen."
Lu called into question the competency of incumbent Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
"If all the mayor of the capital city needs to do is swimming, dancing and grandstanding, why don't we let pop diva, A-mei, do it?" she said.
On a more serious note Lu said that if the capital city continued to be governed by someone embracing unificationist ideology,it would pose a threat to national security.
"Over the past three and a half years, Taipei City has been doing all it can to be at odds with the central government," Lu said. "We don't need a mayor who enjoys doing that nor do we need someone who does nothing about the city's deteriorating public security while propping up its sex industry."
Lu also lashed out at the pro-unification mayor over China's missile threat.
"We're calling an end to the buildup and the removal of missiles in coastal provinces of China," Lu said. "While many pro-China advocates keep lambasting me and the president, I've never heard them criticize China for its military buildup against Taiwan."
Premier Yu also called on DPP supporters to mobilize and reclaim the capital city.
"Taipei City has deteriorated in many ways over the past three and a half years during Ma's term as mayor," Yu said. "While the mayor of the capital city should lead the city to compete with other cities around the world, Ma instead focuses on creating confrontation with the central government."
Yu asked Taipei residents to vote for someone who could give city residents a hope for the future..
"The city will not have a future if you vote for someone who knows nothing but how to grandstand," Yu said.
In response, Ma yesterday tried to downplay Chen's criticism.
"I'll correct any wrongs if what he says is right, but I'll clarify first whether what he says is wrong," Ma said.
Commenting on Chen's stumping for Lee, Ma said that it is still too early to tell how much an impact it will have on the overall election.
"One thing is sure, however, various opinion polls have showed that most city residents don't approve of the platforms Lee has proposed so far," Ma said.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) was critical of the DPP's using heavyweights to stumpfor Lee.
"I feel disgusted that the DPP puts campaigning before solving the nation's social and economic problems," Lien said.
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