Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Enoch Wu (吳怡農) yesterday received a boost in his bid to win a legislative by-election in Taipei, with the party sending him two campaign experts for the two weeks before the election on Jan. 8.
The party said that Taipei City Councilor Ruan Jhao-syong (阮昭雄) and DPP Department of Social Movement director Kuo Wen-pin (郭文彬), a former member of the presidential office staff, are to assist Wu in his bid to win the seat covering Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts that Taipei mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vacated to focus on his mayoral campaign.
“The DPP is rallying around Wu with its full support,” the DPP’s central office said in a news release. “Ruan will use his campaign experience to assist Wu’s team and will accompany Wu daily in street canvassing, joining forces to win this legislative by-election.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The addition of Kuo would bolster Wu’s team, as he was a counselor at the Presidential Office during the previous DPP administration of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), while other DPP officials are committed to assisting Wu by providing resources to assist in canvassing, the office said.
Wu, Ruan, Taipei City councilor-elect Chang Wen-chieh (張文潔) and DPP Taipei Chapter director Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠) visited traditional markets and parks in the electorate to speak with potential voters.
Wu told reporters that Kuo is a campaign adviser.
“I am thankful that Kuo has joined us,” he said. “He has a wealth of experience from numerous election campaigns. He is a respected veteran who has worked at the presidential office, so he can help with planning and strategy.”
Asked about a debate offer from Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), the KMT’s candidate, Wu said that he would not participate.
“From day 1, I have insisted on running a clean campaign. I should focus on the DPP’s platform policies,” he said. “We only have two weeks until the election, so I will continue to meet people in public, interacting with them in person to gain their support.”
“Wang has used smears, insinuations and false accusations against us, so we will not debate to deny Wang another opportunity to use the media limelight to malign us,” he said.
Separately, Wang attended a tea party at her Songshan office.
“We have prepared for a debate and are waiting for Wu to agree,” she told reporters. “We want to remind Wu that I did not smear him at all and that he should not vilify public debate simply because he does not want to participate.”
“Debates are a regular part of democratic elections,” she said. “Wu is equating debates to smear campaigns, so he needs to learn more about how democracies operate.”
Wu has accused KMT members of running a “dirty campaign” after KMT Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) called him “a giant baby” and KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Huang Tzu-che (黃子哲) called him a “pus-filled cyst,” a Chinese-language play on his name.
Wang and Hsu said that “Wu is fighting a losing battle and the DPP has abandoned him, while the KMT is united in our effort to win this contest.”
Wang and others in the KMT have insinuated that Wu has ties to organized crime, saying that when Wu headed the DPP’s Taipei Chapter, suspected gang members had joined the party.
Others in the KMT called Wu a “parachute candidate,” nominated because he is “the party chairperson’s favorite boy” who has “foreign assets.”
Earlier this week, Wu visited markets with DPP Legislator Lai Ping-yu (賴品妤), while other DPP members have helped with canvassing at separate events.
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