Incumbent Taichung City Mayor Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹) yesterday formally announced her candidacy in the year-end mayoral election and introduced a campaign team including local heavyweights from three major political parties and one independent.
Chang, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of her campaign headquarters yesterday, vowed to devote herself to the welfare of all residents of the city rather than to the interests of any political party.
Although the heavyweight figures in the campaign team are from opposition parties, Chang, as a DPP founding member, enjoys the support of many grassroots DPP members.
With the Kaohsiung and Taipei mayoral seats not up for election this year, the Taichung race is widely regarded as a preliminary skirmish in the 2004 presidential race.
Chang has regularly suggested that her rivals, the KMT's Jason Hu (
"The people of Taichung City want to elect a talented politician, not a party," Chang said. "I have devoted myself to this city all my life and that's why the leaders of the different parties choose to support me."
One of the DPP's founding members, Chang announced her resignation from the DPP on Aug. 18, stressing that she had "to stick to what is the right thing to do."
Chang's announcement yesterday amounted to the fulfillment of her vow at an Aug. 18 press conference to contest the mayoral election despite losing the DPP's nomination during the party primary earlier this year.
At yesterday's press conference, Chang said that the city government had worked extremely hard to improve the city's infrastructure during the past four years and her team had not been afraid of offending influential figures with vested interests in the city and those who had engaged in illegal construction work.
"Mayor Chang, with stiff resolve, demolished those illegal buildings -- houses built on government land -- which had been designated for public construction work," said Deputy Mayor Liu Bang-yu (
When asked about the future role of her husband Chen Wen-hsiung (
"Just like every husband," Chang said, "he will help me to deal with certain administrative affairs at my headquarters." Chen, who has over the years developed a reputation for making vitriolic public attacks of rivals, yesterday refused to comment to reporters.
Chen's father, Chen Tuan-tang (
Chang's campaign staff, who were present yesterday, include senior KMT City Councilor Lai Tien-lung (
DPP candidate Michael Tsai, said that Chang represents the "Pan-Blue alliance" (the opposition alliance led by the KMT, whose party color is blue) and appealed to DPP supporters to stand firm under the green flag of the DPP.
Meanwhile, the KMT hopeful, former foreign minister Jason Hu, stressed that he was confident of winning back KMT supporters in the coming poll.
"A few faction leaders do not represent all residents, who have always elected KMT candidates in the past," Hu said yesterday, adding that, "The method of electing local administration chiefs should and will change."
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