Former chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (
Chen made the announcement at a press conference at the Ambassador Hotel in Kaohsiung City. Many of her friends and DPP legislators and city councilors attended the conference to voice their support. The room was decorated with pictures tracking Chen's political career, and was full of singing and applause for Chen.
Chen said that she has a close connection with Kaohsiung City and that it is time for her to pay back the warmth and assistance that Kaohsiung people have given her.
Chen said she was jailed for six years for the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979. In 1991, she was elected as a representative to the National Assembly by Kaohsiung residents. In 1998, she served as the chief of the Kaohsiung City Government's Social Affairs Bureau. She also earned her masters degree at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung.
During the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal last year, Chen was heavily criticized for her handling of the tender for the construction project and attacked by members of other DPP factions.
"Do not pigeonhole me into any specific DPP faction and do not smear me regarding controversial incidents," Chen said yesterday. "I am the daughter of Taiwan. I am not a complicated person and I've been in the democratic movement for more than 30 years. That is much longer than any faction in the DPP [has existed]."
"I feared nothing when I faced unjust imprisonment and the threat of the death penalty. Likewise, I'm ready and glad to take full responsibility when I have to," she said.
According to a poll conducted recently by the DPP assessing the popularity of possible candidates in the party primary, Chen is in the lead. Yesterday Chen cited the poll to stress that she is the "optimal candidate" for the critical party task of defending Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Huang Jun-ying (
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