Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged party members to replicate Ma’s victory in the 1998 Taipei mayoral race over former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was seeking re-election as Taipei mayor at the time.
The KMT would be able to “repeat history” in the Taipei mayoral election this year, Wu and Ma said at a ceremony in Taipei to pray for good fortune for the party.
The KMT did not mention that Chen’s defeat at the hands of Ma prompted him to launch his presidential campaign and he was elected president in 2000.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ma said that although it was his first time to run for public office, he was able to win the 1998 Taipei mayoral race thanks to party unity.
He added that he was confident the party would be able to win back Taipei like he did 20 years ago, while setting its sights on the 2020 presidential election.
Taipei is undoubtedly important in the nine-in-one local elections scheduled for Nov. 24, Wu said, expressing the hope that the party’s candidate would be able to replicate Ma’s success and thereby “right the wrong” and restore the KMT’s glory.
That so many KMT members had announced during the Lunar New Year holiday their intention to join the Taipei mayoral race while pledging to respect the results of the primary bodes well for the party, Wu said.
The party would select the most capable and experienced person to lead the KMT to victory in the Taipei mayoral election, Wu added.
Separately yesterday, Keelung City Council Speaker Sung Wei-li (宋瑋莉) said she has resigned as director of the KMT’s Keelung chapter and vowed to support KMT Immigrant Affairs Committee chairman Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功), who was nominated by the KMT on Feb. 7 as its Keelung mayoral candidate after beating Sung in the primary.
Sung said she would instead run for city councilor in Keelung’s Jhongshan District (中山).
She assumed her post during the KMT’s most desperate hour and she has accomplished the short-term mission that she was given, Sung said.
Hsieh thanked Sung for her support and apologizing for any misunderstanding the two might have had during the primary.
Hsieh said he had asked Jieh Wen-chieh (介文汲), one of his rivals during the primary, to serve as his campaign office spokesman.
He is also considering asking Sung to take an important position at his campaign office.
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