The DPP has been searching high and low for a suitable candidate to compete with Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Recent media reports have claimed that Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), a native of Taipei, would run in the Taipei City mayoral election.
Hsieh, however, has dismissed the reports and reiterated his determination to run in the Kaohsiung City mayoral election.
Although he criticized the reports as "meaningless," DPP lawmaker Lee Wen-chung (
"Even President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lost in his re-election bid in the 1998 Taipei City mayoral election. I doubt that Hsieh would stand a chance of winning," he said.
Some media reports have speculated that Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) or Yu Shyi-kun, secretary-general of the Presidential Office, would represent the DPP in the Taipei City mayoral election.
Both, however, have publicly dismissed the suggestion.
Although they are both considered high-caliber DPP politicians, Lee said, it would be an uphill battle for either to win.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to appear disrespectful. However, judging from the current situation, I don't think it's an easy task, at least for now," he said.
If the two eventually turn down the party's call to run in the race, the DPP may have to seek out potential candidates, Lee said.
Lee echoed a remark made recently by another DPP lawmaker, Liu Shih-fang (
Liu proposed at the party's weekly central standing committee meeting on Tuesday that the party should allow a non-DPP member to run under the party banner in the Taipei City mayoral election if it cannot find a suitable candidate within its ranks.
"The mayoral election is too important to sit out as it serves as a harbinger of the 2004 presidential election," she said.
Ho Jung-hsing (
"Taipei City has a more complicated constituency than other cities, because it has a higher proportion of mainlanders," Ho said.
"The DPP has a hard battle to fight even if it plays it safe."
One possible way to turn things around, Ho said, would be to nominate potential candidates as late as possible.
"As soon as the DPP makes public its potential candidate, the pan-blue camp would come up with counter strategies.
"If high-caliber candidates are nominated, it may result in a pan-blue alliance," he said.
In addition, it would be very difficult to solicit non-DPP members to run under the party's banner, because according to the party's nomination regulations, non-DPP members would have to join the party first before they are eligible for the mayoral nomination.
"It'd be too risky to forsake your party membership before you know whether you'd win or not," he said.
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