Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who doubles as interim chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), yesterday denied she was interested in running in the election for party chair in May as she departed for Japan on a business trip.
Asked if she plans to run for the DPP leadership on Saturday, Chen urged DPP supporters against having “overly high expectations” of a bid.
Along with Chen, Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) and Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chi-fen (蘇治芬) left for Tokyo to attend this year’s Foodex Japan, an international food and beverage exhibition in which their municipality and counties are participating, which begins tomorrow and runs through Friday.
However, the public focus was on whether Chen intends to assume the DPP leadership after serving out the remainder of former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) term, which ends on May 20.
Chen said her priority as acting chairperson is to ensure stability during this period. Despite her reportedly high support in a survey on prospective candidates for the position of DPP chair, she said the survey “was a non-factor.”
Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who is regarded as the strongest contender, should he decide to run for the position, told reporters yesterday during the premiere of a documentary that it was “still too early” to announce his decision.
Former Tainan county commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) is so far the only one to have publicly announced his candidacy.
The DPP said the chairperson election is scheduled for May 27 and aspirants would be able to register their candidacy around the end of this month.
Chen, who has reiterated her intentions to focus on running the second-largest city in Taiwan, is in Japan to promote southern Taiwanese agricultural products as well as engaging in city-to-city diplomacy.
Chen is scheduled to visit Greater Kaohsiung’s sister cities Osaka and Hachioji and is expected to invite Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto to attend next year’s Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Greater Kaohsiung.
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