The KMT will pick before next Wednesday its choice for Kaohsiung mayor, who will then compete with the PFP's nominee to become the parties' joint candidate, KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said yesterday.
After negotiations coordinated by Lin on Friday, the three KMT candidates agreed to respect the final decision reached by the party's nine-member nomination review committee.
The committee, led by KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), will meet before next Wednesday to take into account the outcome of opinion polls and other "major factors" when making its decision, Lin said.
James Chen (
The three KMT contestants for Kaohsiung mayor are former vice mayor Huang Jun-ying (
According to a cooperation plan between the KMT and PFP, the KMT winner will compete with PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) -- the PFP's aspirant -- for the KMT-PFP joint candidacy.
The selection process has yet to be announced.
While the KMT leadership favored Huang Jun-ying among the three contestants, the opinion polls were unfavorable to him.
Survey results
According to results of the surveys, which were conducted by two different polling institutions, the average approval ratings for Huang Chi-chuan, Yao and Huang Jun-ying were 19.25 percent, 16.22 percent and 10.01 percent, respectively.
In the event of a one-on-one competition with the DPP's incumbent mayor Frank Hsieh (
In a Yao versus Hsieh contest, Yao won an average rating of 33.5 percent while Hsieh received 31.52 percent.
Huang vs Hsieh
In a Huang Jun-ying versus Hsieh heat, Huang got 28.67 percent while Hsieh commanded 33.22 percent.
Kaohsiung lawmaker Chiu Yi (
Hsieh from the DPP yesterday cast doubts on whether the KMT-PFP cooperation plan would be successful, saying there are already enough differences for the KMT to resolve among its own members.
Hsieh said the lack of a system of coordination is the most serious problem hampering the cooperation plan.
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