Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election on Saturday, yesterday said that having members of former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) administrative team help with her election campaign highlights her campaign’s main theme of being corruption-free.
Lee made the remarks as speculation mounts on whether former officials under Han’s administration have been maneuvering to return to power by helping her campaign.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Wen-yi (黃文益), spokesman for DPP Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), accused Han of taking Kaohsiung residents’ passion and kindness for granted, coming to and leaving the city at will, and said that Han’s team had slowed the city’s progress during his one-and-a-half years of administration.
Photo: Ko Yu-hao, Taipei Times
It seems that Han’s team is trying to return to power through the by-election on Saturday, Huang wrote.
He urged Kaohsiung residents not to waste the ballots they cast on June 6 to recall Hall.
In another Facebook post yesterday, Huang cited former Kaohsiung deputy mayor Chen Hsiung-wen’s (陳雄文) remark that Han’s former administrative team had remained in Kaohsiung, and wrote that the “Hans” are returning one by one.
Photo: Fang Chih-pao, Taipei Times
He said they have been hiding behind Lee’s campaign team, giving her “imaginative” policy proposals such as building rum distilleries and using seawater to flush toilets, just like Han’s campaign proposals to drill for oil on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), build a Love Ferris Wheel or promote horse racing in the city.
Lee has asked Han to show his support for her in public, a person close to Han said, adding that although Han is not sure how he can help Lee in the by-election, he is certainly going to vote on Saturday.
As Han’s former administrative team, led by Chen Hsiung-wen, have publicly showed their support for Lee, speculation is rife that Han would also step out to publicly support Lee.
So far, Lee and Chen Hsiung-wen have said they are still discussing the idea, but KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) said that if Han’s former team have publicly expressed their support, Han would also do the same.
Asked if Han would appear on stage at Lee’s campaign event on the eve of the by-election, the person close to Han said that the former mayor wants to help, but he is also concerned it might adversely affect Lee’s campaign because he had just been recalled in June, so he had asked his administrative team to help Lee first.
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that anyone who supports Lee is welcome, and that he does not know when Han would cast his vote, but he believes Han would return to Kaohsiung to vote.
Additional reporting by Fang Chih-hsien
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