Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday accompanied Greater Taichung Councilor Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) to register as a candidate for a legislative by-election scheduled for Jan. 26 in Greater Taichung’s second electoral district.
Su called on voters to help the party add one more seat to its total in the legislature.
“There are three reasons to cast your vote for the DPP candidate. They are that Chen is the best candidate in the constituency, we all want a change and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is incompetent,” Su said in Greater Taichung.
He called on voters to express their fury at the Ma government by voting for the DPP’s candidate.
Chen is running against Yen Kuan-hen (顏寬恆) to fill a position in the district left vacant when Yen’s father, Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), a former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator, was found guilty of corruption. Yen Kuan-hen is to represent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the election.
According to Su, the second electoral district of Greater Tai-chung has traditionally been a difficult constituency for the DPP, with 60 percent of votes going to the KMT and 40 percent to the DPP on average.
Noting that the party lost by only two votes in the legislature last week in a resolution related to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮), Su said that the seat sought by Chen is a key seat for the DPP.
Although Yen Ching-piao was an independent, he was deemed close to the KMT. Yen Kuan-hen, 35, was an assistant to his father before the elder Yen was convicted last month and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, told the party at its Central Standing Committee on Wednesday to spare no efforts in the campaign.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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