Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) reached the peak of his political career yesterday when he was chosen by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to be her running mate in January’s presidential election.
Regarded by many observers as the “weakest” candidate on Tsai’s shortlist, Su has gotten used to playing the role of the underdog and a life out of the limelight.
However, the Greater Taichung mayoral election last year was his chance to rise from obscurity, when he almost turned a 30 percent support rate deficit into a victory over then-Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Su eventually lost by about 30,000 votes, or 2.24 percent.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
After the election, the DPP quickly recognized Su’s “explosiveness and power,” as they described it, to turn things around and he was soon one of the party’s rising stars.
The 54-year-old went into -politics after a short stint as a businessman and was elected a member of the National Assembly in 1986. He served as a legislator for two terms between 1992 and 1997 before holding the position of commissioner in his native Pingtung County from 1997 to 2004.
During this period, Su earned the nickname “O-Toro,” which means “black tuna” in Taiwanese, for his dark skin and his ability to market local products, such as tuna, with successful initiatives such as the Tuna Festival and Wind Bells Festival, both of which boosted the local economy.
Throughout the DPP’s time in power between 2000 and 2008, Su worked his way up the political ladder, serving as minister of the interior and head of the Council of Agriculture.
At the council, Su launched a series of initiatives, such as “straybirds” and “new agriculture,” to urge young people to work in the agriculture sector and to promote precision agriculture.
Su’s expertise in identifying -local characteristics and marketing locally made produce alongside his knowledge of the agricultural sector will play a critical role if the DPP wins the election, Tsai said.
His loyalty and hard work also impressed Tsai, who described Su as her most trustworthy partner. They have worked together since 2008 and led the DPP out of turmoil.
“I did everything she asked me to do. Wherever it is, as long as she asks, I just pack my bag and go to work,” Su said yesterday, referring to Tsai’s request for him to run in Taichung last year.
Su described himself as unselfish, saying that he adopts a philosophy of “letting the better person stand in the spotlight … and that person does not have to be me.”
However, that does not mean he is unambitious nor short of confidence. Asked by a reporter to respond to a KMT comment that the “weak” Tsai-Su ticket is a “godsend, a gift from heaven” for the KMT, Su said that Hu “probably had the same thought last year [before the election].”
“In the end, Hu found out that it was a bomb falling from the sky,” Su said.
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