Today marks the first day of official campaigning for the Nov. 27 special municipality elections.
Campaign activities will be permitted between 7am and 10pm on each of the next 15 days, electoral authorities said.
The special municipality elections will be held for Taipei City, Sinbei City (the soon-to-be--upgraded Taipei County), Greater Taichung (a merger of Taichung city and county), Greater Tainan (a merger of Tainan city and county) and Greater Kaohsiung (a merger of Kaohsiung city and county).
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday said that with the run-up to the election entering its final two-week stretch, KMT heavyweights, including President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), will focus their efforts on stumping for KMT candidates.
Using megaphones installed on campaign vehicles, the party will also start broadcasting the voice of Ma, who doubles as party chairman, on the streets of the five metropolises to call for public support for KMT candidates.
In addition to a large-scale rally set for Nov. 21 in Taipei City to boost support for Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) re-election bid, the party will also release new TV spots later this month, party officials said.
They declined to divulge the planned TV spots’ contents, saying: “They are highly classified.”
Given that frequent meetings have been convened by party officials over the matter, the party officials suggested that party heavyweights have placed major importance on these new TV spots.
Democratic -Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said its final set of campaign literature would focus on its five mayoral candidates’ sincerity and track record in getting things done, and would appeal to voters to give the DPP a chance to serve them.
NO RALLIES
The DPP will not compete with the KMT on holding large-scale rallies, Lin said.
According to the Central Election Commission, a total of 7,917 people have registered their candidacies with election authorities for the Nov. 27 “three-in-one” poll. They include 14 candidates for five mayoral positions, 649 people running for 314 councilor spots and 7,254 people running for 3,758 borough chief posts.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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