Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) yesterday said he was prepared to stand as a candidate in the Taipei mayoral election next year, but stopped short of saying that he would enter the party primary.
“This is not a press conference to announce my bid, but one to tell people that I am ready to stand as the DPP’s candidate and I’m up for the task,” Hsu, a former Tainan mayor, told a press conference in Taipei.
More than a dozen representatives from Hsu’s booster associations in southern Taiwan and Taipei attended the event to show their support.
Photo: CNA
Hsu, 62, said he was confident about his ability to make changes in the nation’s capital, given his nine-year experience of governing Tainan, and his age would not be a factor if elected because governance is about competence, creativity and execution rather than being a stamina competition.
Aside from Hsu, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) have been mentioned as potential aspirants in the party primary for Taipei mayor, with National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is not a DPP member, a possible wild card receiving support from pan-green supporters.
Hsu, who governed Tainan from 2001 to 2010, said Taipei has lagged behind the Asian metropolises of Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur in terms of development, and he believed that he could bring about the necessary changes.
Former Taipei County commissioner You Ching (尤清) praised Hsu for transforming Tainan into a city of traditional culture, technology and environmental protection, citing the examples of the Tainan Technology Industrial Park and the award-winning Barclay Memorial Park.
According to DPP regulations, negotiations would be conducted in constituencies with multiple candidates. If negotiations failed to produce a candidate, public opinion surveys would be used to finalize a nomination.
Separately yesterday, DPP New Taipei City Chapter director Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said he would announce his bid in the party primary for next year’s New Taipei City mayoral election in a press conference next week.
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