An anonymous ad targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday sparked disputes over its source, with Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) camp denying that it placed the advertisement.
The full-page ad in the Chinese-language Apple Daily said: “On Nov. 27, will Taipei City elect a good mayor? Or a loser mayor? You decide.”
The ad made a play on the names of the two candidates, since the pronunciation of Hau (郝) is the same as hau (好, good), while the pronunciation of Su (蘇) is similar to su (輸, lose).
Su condemned the ad as a smear tactic, and seemed to imply that Hau’s camp was behind it.
“It’s not my fault I have Su as my family name. Such an anonymous campaign ad is no different from blackmail. I think it’s obvious who is behind the blackmail,” he said after visiting a Wanhua District (萬華) market.
Hau denied placing the ad and urged supporters to stay rational.
“We always indicate on all our campaign ads and commercials that they are from our camp. We don’t know who placed the ad,” he said at his campaign headquarters.
Pan Chia-sen (潘家森), director of Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei branch, dismissed speculation that the ad had been placed by Hau’s supporters or KMT support groups.
The Election and Recall Act (選舉罷免法) stipulates that campaign ads in newspapers or magazines must include the name of the person or group placing the ads.
Newspapers or magazines that break the law could be fined between NT$200,000 (US$6,600) and NT$2 million. There is no punishment for individuals or groups that places such ads, Taipei City Election Commission Deputy Director Huang Hsi-ming (黃細明) said.
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