Surrounded by supporters and party stalwarts, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday officially declared his intention to run in the year-end election for Taipei City mayor.
“If Taipei City residents want change, the DPP has a responsibility to nominate good candidates to provide them with choices. If the party needs me, I will welcome this great challenge,” he said at Dalongdong Baoan Temple.
The announcement comes after weeks of media speculation that Su would seek the DPP’s nomination to run in either Taipei or Sinbei City — as Taipei County will be known after it is upgraded to a special municipality.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
DPP officials said Su informed DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of his decision in a meeting on Tuesday at the party’s headquarters.
The 62-year-old Su, who has previously served as county commissioner in Taipei and Pingtung, is considered to be the party’s front-runner in the special municipal elections scheduled for December and the presidential election in 2012.
He promised, however, that if elected mayor, he would not consider running for president and would serve out the entire four-year term, which expires in late 2014.
“Every election to me is sacred and when I do choose to run, I will make sure I run to win. And if I win, I will make sure that I do a good job, which will require me to serve out my term and not run for president in 2012,” Su said.
Su said he would work on improving the livelihood of Taipei residents and giving them a voice in government.
“The DPP should return to its roots, return to the people ... and humbly listen to their needs,” he said.
News of the announcement was warmly welcomed in the party’s headquarters, with DPP officials saying Su could improve the party’s overall showing during the December elections.
“Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen recognizes Su’s past achievements and fully supports his bid,” DPP Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said. “Su has always been part of the DPP overall policy for winning the year-end elections.”
Speaking after a party committee meeting yesterday, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who is seeking the party’s nomination in the soon-to-be merged Kaohsiung City and County, called Su a “strong candidate,” but added that winning Taipei City would be a tough battle.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have questioned Su’s motives in running for mayor.
They have said he would only use the position as a springboard for a presidential bid in 2012.
Both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his predecessor, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), served as Taipei mayors before moving on to the nation’s top post.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT yesterday questioned Su’s sincerity in running for mayor, saying Su would lose both the Taipei and presidential polls if he only intended to capitalize on the sympathy generated from a loss in the capital city to run for president.
Hau, seeking to secure the party’s nomination for a re-election bid, said candidates should make a fundamental promise to finish their term, but it could be too big a promise for Su to make.
“If he intends to steal two bases, he will face a double-play,” Hau said.
Hau enumerated the achievements made during his tenure, including an urbanization project and road improvement program, adding that he also pushed internationalization, commercial development and supported the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
Hau said Taiwan must sign the proposed pact with Beijing and that it would be bad for the city’s development if Su won given the DPP’s conservative cross-strait policy. Hau also asked Su to make clear his position on an ECFA.
Hau described Su as a well-matched contender and promised to do his best to engage in a “gentleman’s game.”
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) said he hoped the Taipei City election would be a “benign contest” and that he believed the KMT candidate was the best.
Asked whether Su’s decision to stand would have any impact on the KMT’s nomination process, King said the election situation was changing fast and his party’s nomination process would proceed as scheduled. King said he would soon visit those interested in the elections and hoped to finalize the nomination by the end of May.
Both the KMT and the DPP have publicly announced their goal of winning at least three of the five cities being contested. Taipei and Sinbei are seen as important political battlegrounds that could swing either way.
KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday also expressed an interest in running for Taipei mayor.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party’s nomination would focus on elevating the competitiveness of the five special municipalities, a very different strategy from the DPP’s, which he claimed had its eye solely on winning the next election.
With the DPP’s registration deadline for nominations rapidly approaching, many potential candidates have been scrambling to get their names in to a nomination team led by DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).
Former Taipei County commissioner You Ching (尤清) said on Monday that he would be vying for the party’s nomination in Sinbei City. There is also speculation that former premiers Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Yu Shyi-kun, as well as former DPP legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻), were potential candidates in the newly upgraded city.
The party is hoping it could reach a decision on party nominees through dialogue rather than resorting to internal party polls. While the party does not have a firm timeline for deciding on its candidates for Taipei, Sinbei and Taichung, the nomination list for Tainan and Kaohsiung will be finalized before May 19, Tsai Chi-chang said.
Meanwhile, Chen Shui-bian’s office said he respected Su’s decision to run for the capital city’s top job, although the former president had hoped Su would contest Sinbei City.
His secretary, Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘), said Chen Shui-bian could only give Su his blessing and concurred with Su that only when the party does not focus so much on the 2012 presidential election does it stand a better chance of winning in Taipei
City.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
RSS