Election hopefuls yesterday drew numbers to decide their numerical designations in the Nov. 29 elections, with many seeking an auspicious start by showing up at the drawing in costumes.
Among the prominent candidates vying to be Taipei mayor, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) drew No. 6, while physician turned independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) received No. 7.
Asked if he would consider “7” a lucky number, Ko said that the number does not mean much to him.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“I am a doctor. For me, the number is just a number; it has nothing to do with being lucky or unlucky. It is just something that would make it easier for voters to identify me on the ballot,” Ko said.
However, he added that the first thing he thought about upon learning he pulled No. 7 was the convenience store chain 7-Eleven.
“Being a surgeon, I’ve been working from 7am to 11pm for the past 20 years and if I am elected, I will continue to work from 7am to 11pm,” he said.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
In New Taipei City, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayoral candidate Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) pulled No. 1, independent Lee Ching-shun (李進順) drew No. 2 and Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the KMT drew No. 3.
In Greater Taichung, Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) of the KMT obtained No. 1 and his DPP opponent, Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), pulled No. 2.
In Greater Kaohsiung, Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP drew No. 2 while Minister Without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who is running for the KMT, drew No. 3.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Independent candidate Chou Ko-sheng (周可盛), who pulled No. 1, stripped down to his underwear during the drawing to make a statement that “open honesty is the best policy.”
In Greater Tainan, Mayor William Lai (賴清德) of the DPP obtained No. 1, while the KMT’s Huang Hsiu-shuang (黃秀霜) pulled No. 2.
According to the Central Election Commission, a record-high 11,130 public servants are to be determined among nine categories of elected offices in the nine-in-one elections.
Voters are to elect mayors of five special municipalities; commissioners and mayors of 16 counties and provincial cities; 907 municipal, county and city councilors; 204 mayors of townships, county-controlled cities and Aboriginal districts; 2,146 councilors for township, county-controlled city and Aboriginal district councils; and 7,851 wardens of villages and boroughs.
Additional reporting by Loa Lok-sin
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