Campaigns for the Nov. 26 local elections heated up as the two major parties last night held their largest rallies yet in Taipei and New Taipei City as they stumped for votes.
Crowds turned out to join President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, along with other prominent DPP figures at a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building.
DPP party leaders urged supporters to help win back Taipei and New Taipei City, promoting the party’s Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as having “democracy DNA” and broad international vision.
Photo: CNA
The candidates would help safeguard Taiwan and take leading roles in global diplomacy, the leaders said.
Among the DPP luminaries who took the stage were Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Vice President William Lai (賴清德).
The DPP government safeguarded Taiwan through the COVID-19 pandemic and was praised internationally, they said, giving most of the credit to Chen, who is the former head of the Central Epidemic Command Center.
Photo: CNA
“In these changing times, we need these two men to take charge of our capital and New Taipei City. Both Chen and Lin have proven themselves as Cabinet ministers, and were highly capable and responsible leaders who care about Taiwanese,” Lai said.
Organizers estimated that the crowd reached more than 50,000 attendees as of press timet.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also held a large rally last night, at Area 1 of New Taipei City’s Banciao Sports Stadium last night.
All of its mayoral nominees for the six special municipalities shared the stage as a show of party unity — Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), Tainan mayoral candidate Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), Taoyuan mayoral candidate Simon Chang (張善政), Taipei mayoral Candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), the latter two seeking re-election.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) urged voters to support the party’s candidates, saying that only by choosing the right person to lead the six municipalities can Taiwan move forward.
Chu said the DPP should live up to its name and remain progressive instead of using underhanded, regressive tactics.
As the party’s chairman, Chu said he would live up to expectations and “coach” the party in protecting Taiwan’s democracy and liberties for a peaceful and stable future.
The party estimated that about 50,000 supporters also attended its rally.
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