Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) and independent Taipei candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are preparing for their first televised debate on Friday night, analyzing all their opponent’s possible moves as their campaign staff provide them with talking points for the pre-election showdown.
The debate, which is to be hosted by SET-TV news, is to run for 90 minutes, starting at 8pm. It is to start with the two candidates taking turns elucidating their goals for city governance within six minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session with six civic groups, with each group allowed 90 seconds for their questions.
The candidates will each have three minutes to respond to the inquiries, before engaging in a cross-questioning session.
Photo: CNA
The debate is to end after both sides summarize their arguments.
Huang Chih-hao (黃志豪), who heads Lien’s Internet campaigning division, said he has assumed the role of Ko during mock debates to prepare Lien.
Lien is to touch on a range of issues, including the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, the cross-strait service trade pact and doubts over his personal wealth, his staffers said, adding that Lien would delve into past news coverage to identify flaws in Ko’s policies, while also exploiting Ko’s previous remarks about women, which many have accused of being sexist.
Ko drew criticism when he said that KMT Chiayi mayoral candidate Chen Yi-chen’s (陳以真) being “young and beautiful” make her suitable to become a receptionist or appear in a tourism advertisement, but not a mayor.
Ko, director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Traumatology, has also said that he had chosen against a career in obstetrics and gynecology so he would have “only one hole to deal with” and would not have to “make a living between women’s thighs.”
Ko’s head campaign advisor Chang Chang Ching-sen (張景森) said he was worried Ko would be the underdog in the debate, saying that Lien is more eloquent, given his past experience campaigning for others.
While campaign staff are keen to train Ko in public speaking skills, Ko has come down with the flu and needs to conserve his strength, which worried them even more, Chang added.
Five other mayoral hopefuls were not invited to participate in the debate.
Independent candidate Neil Peng (馮光遠) expressed regret over the TV station’s decision to invite only Lien and Ko, but said he would resort to other means to participate in the event.
He declined to disclose what those means were.
Another independent candidate, Chen Yung-chang (陳永昌), threatened to sue the TV station, saying that it is violating the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公務人員選舉罷免法) by using illegal means to influence candidates’ campaigns.
Additional reporting by Lu Heng-chien
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