By-election concerns for Yunlin County were on the agenda of President and acting KMT Chairman Lee Teng-hui (
Lee said after a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting that the Yunlin County commissioner election result would have a bearing on next March's presidential election and he urged all KMT members to pull together.
"Every department should work as one unit and if senior level officials make new policy changes, they should quickly disseminate them to people at the grassroots. We will not tolerate inter-departmental egoism," said Lee, quoted by KMT spokesman Huang Hwei-chen (
Lee also instructed the cabinet to make a comprehensive report, by next week, analyzing the projected impact of the quake on Taiwan's economic development.
Lee said he anticipated the catastrophe would have a limited effect on the macro economic environment, due to the contained scope of the directly affected areas, coupled with Taiwan's powerful economic base.
With the rescue work phase of the reconstruction plan nearing an end, much of the meeting focused on the Nov. 6 Yunlin County by-election.
After the meeting Lee attended a conference with KMT local faction leaders from Yunlin, including legislators Lin Ming-yi (林明義); Hou Hui-hsien (侯惠仙); Liao Hwu-peng (廖福本); Tsengtsai Mei-tso (曾蔡美佐); vice chairman of the Public Construction Commission Liao Chuan-yuh (廖泉裕); and chairman of the Yunlin water conservancy board, Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元).
After the meeting Lin said Lee saw the by-election as having a direct bearing on the presidential race.
"Under these circumstances Lee has asked us to win the by-election at any cost. The party can't afford to lose the by-election. So he urged all participants to do their best to boost the campaign, without any consideration of personal self-interest," Lin said.
"Lee will probably spend his weekend in Yunlin," Lin added, to give support and boost the party's election hopes.
The KMT's by-election candidate, Chang Cheng-hsiung (
However, Chang remained confident yesterday, saying that within the week he would overtake Lin. "I am like a good wine and always save the best for last."
Lin was also bullish: "According to the poll, undecided voters still total over 40 percent. Plus, there are more than two weeks until the actual voting day. I believe we have a great chance to win the by-election."
The independent candidate, former Yunlin County Council speaker Chang Jung-wei (張榮味), polled 11.5 percent. Chang has wide support among local factions, but his hopes of winning the election were downplayed by Lin.
"The public should realize that the KMT will never give secret support to Chang Jong-wei," he said. "We are determined to win."
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