Following the pattern of pan-green camp integration in Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) New Taipei City mayoral hopeful Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) hopeful Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) engaged in a televised debate yesterday ahead of a public opinion poll on Thursday to determine the final pan-green camp candidate in the November election.
The contenders talked about their vision for the nation’s largest constituency, which has a population of 3.96 million, in a televised debate yesterday at Formosa Television in the last push of their campaigns before the poll, where they would each be matched against New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫).
Win or lose, the one with the better record against Chu would be the final pan-green camp candidate. The same process in Taipei was used to select independent aspirant Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) over the DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) as the pan-green camp candidate earlier this month.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Yu, a former premier, highlighted his rich experience and the success of governance — he served as Yilan commissioner for eight years and premier for three years — as his strength over Chu, who Yu said has never been serious about city affairs, but had his eyes on a bigger prize — the presidency.
In the 60-minute televised debate, the 65-year-old focused on his “1453” social housing policy, a plan for a NT$100 billion (US$3.33 billion) fund that would build 50,000 affordable apartments in four years to rent for about NT$300 per ping.
Yu pledged to transform New Taipei City into a multiple-core metropolis free of corruption and a city where young people could afford a house at a reasonable price, stressing that he would improve government efficiency.
Lin, 55, summed up his campaign platform as “54321,” meaning the pledges of a “five rings” mass rapid transit system, as supposed to Chu’s failed promise of a “Three Rings and Three Lines” system, four strategic industries of baseball, gaming, animation and robots, development of mountain, sea and rivers, two “Made-in-Taiwan” shopping malls and “One Borough, One Characteristic.”
“I’ve never left New Taipei City and I can say that my heart is always here. And I’m confident that no one understands this place better than I do, which is why I have full confidence that I would be able to beat Chu in the election. All I want is the opportunity,” Lin said.
Lin lost the Taipei County commissioner election in 1997 as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate and failed to win the KMT’s nomination in 2001.
The second head-to-head platform presentation is scheduled to be held at Sanlih Television on Wednesday.
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