The mayoral election of the central city of Taichung, one of the five special municipalities that will see elections Nov. 27, has turned up the heat in what is seen as a "no-brainer" race, becoming the talk of the country.
Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Su Jia-chyuan has been playing a "catch-up game" for months, trying to overtake popular incumbent Taichung Mayor Jason Hu of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) in the election that will decide the head of the Taichung City special municipality, a merger of Taichung City and Taichung County.
Little attention had been paid to the Taichung election at the national level until recently, when a pundit used a profanity against President Ma Ying-jeou's mother in a speech at a Su campaign rally last week, igniting public discussion.
Hu, who is seeking re-election, has been enjoying a comfortable lead in most public opinion polls ranging from 10 percentage points to 30 percentage points since May, when the DPP scrambled for its nomination before naming Su, then-DPP secretary-general, as its candidate.
Hu, who was brought up in Taichung and who has been head of the city since 2001, is known for his humor and mild personality, as well as his expertise in international affairs. He has served as foreign minister and as Taiwan's representative to the United States.
The 62-year-old politician described Taichung as "a city without a face" when he assumed office nine years ago, and is running his campaign on a platform of "a global Taichung, " seeking to increase the city's international profile.
Hu also prides himself for having rebuilt the city's 1920s reputation as a "city of culture, " a moniker that originated during the era of Japanese colonial rule because the city's urban design plan at that time was based on that of Kyoto, a former imperial capital of Japan with a rich cultural tradition.
According to Hu, his hard work has paid off, as the average participation in cultural events by each Taichung citizen per year has increased from 3.8 times a year in 2001 to 35 times in 2009.
Hu has also pledged to keep working toward boosting the city's tourism and economic development.
However, even the Hu campaign admits that the mayor has not been flawless in his past nine years in office. According to Deputy Mayor Hsiao Chia-chi, Taichung still faces various problems, such as downtown regeneration, high apartment vacancy rates and a high crime rate.
This has been picked up on by Su, who enters the race with a profile and public service career easily equal to that of Hu, as he has served as magistrate of the southern county of Pingtung, interior minister and minister of the Council of Agriculture.
Su, 54, has underlined the importance of balanced regional development in his campaign because the new Taichung City will be a region with a variety of characteristics, such as high-tech, agriculture and the cultural innovation industry.
He has also pledged that he will bring changes to the metropolis, where he says progress has been slow during the nine years of the Hu administration.
The opposition campaign has especially focused on the issue of social order after the murder of gang member Wong Chi-nan in late May, which involved several active and retired Taichung police officials.
While the DPP said Nov. 12 that Su had narrowed his deficit in the poll down to 5 percentage points according to its own polls and could post an upset victory, history appears to be tipped in Hu's favor, as both Taichung City and Taichung County are seen as KMT strongholds, with the party having ruled both since 1989, apart from 1997-2001.
Both candidates understand that the deciding battleground could be Taichung County, where agricultural development is seen as important by around 1.5 million residents, rather than the more urbanized city.
One factor concerning Hu and King Pu-tsung, KMT secretary-general and its national campaign manager, is the party factions -- most notably the "red" faction and the "black" faction -- in Taichung County, where some local KMT politicians claim that the county has been ignored by the party for far too long.
Both Hu and King are trying to seek consolidation in the county by visiting faction leaders such as Presidential Office Secretary General Liao Liao-yi, a former Taichung County magistrate, and Legislator Yen Ching-piao, and have secured promises of cooperation.
Su has also tried to seek support from the KMT's local factions and to win over farmers and fishermen in the county with his agricultural expertise.
The DPP is cautiously optimistic about Su's chances of victory, as the margin has been narrowed to a single-digit percentage and past experience has favored the party under such circumstances, DPP spokesman Lin Yu-chang said Nov. 12.
By Chris Wang, CNA Staff Reporter ENDITEM/J