Campaigning for next year’s presidential and legislative elections is heating up, with the nation’s biggest two political parties stepping up efforts to rally their support bases.
Looking toward a second term, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday told a campaign event in Taipei that she hopes to see a high turnout rate and votes for the party on Jan. 11.
“We want to show the world the will, values and choice of the Taiwanese public,” Tsai said, adding that every day until election day is critical and that “everyone should unite and protect Taiwan.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“I do not want to see the public divided because of the election,” she added, calling for people across the political spectrum — regardless of their support for Taiwanese independence, the Republic of China (Taiwan) or others — to set aside their differences.
“Our election should be a process of banding together and showing the world that Taiwan is not only resolved, but also united in defending its sovereignty and democracy,” Tsai said.
Comparing the process of national development to that of building a house, the president asked the crowd to not “change the blueprint in the middle of construction” and appealed for their support for another term in office.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
Separately yesterday, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, embarked on a two-day trip to canvass votes in Tainan, a traditional stronghold of the DPP.
Han told the crowd at a campaign event that Taiwanese have had it rough over the past few years and they should change their fates through their ballots.
Han — who was also stumping for Lee Wu-lung (李武龍), the KMT legislative candidate for Tainan’s Madou District (麻豆) — said that should he and Lee be elected, they would serve the public and not be driven by a desire for power.
Farmers, fishers, workers and other ordinary people constitute the backbone of society, Han said, adding that if they “lead prosperous lives, then everyone in Taiwan would enjoy prosperity.”
Farmers and fishers are not reaping the benefits of their hard work, as their produce and fisheries products have no sales channels, or are being sold at a fraction of their actual worth, he said.
Taiwanese must realize that no political party should be above the public — it should be the other way around, Han said.
People’s support for political parties should not be fixed, but rather given to parties that do well, and those that fail should withdraw, he said.
“The people of Tainan should wake from their dreams,” Han said, adding that if they want a highly efficient government, the promise of economic development, effective educational policies and strong foreign affairs, they should vote for him.
Additional reporting by Yang Chin-cheng
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