By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) campaign for next year’s presidential election has entered its second phase after the completion of its vice presidential nomination, DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
One day after picking DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) as her running mate, Tsai and Su made public appearances for the first time in an event organized by Friends of Tsai Ing-wen in Greater Tainan.
“I believe this is the best combination — a combination that represents the DPP’s ideals and its commitment to people,” Tsai said.
After the preparatory period over the past few months, the presidential campaign has now entered its second phase, in which the DPP will focus on organization and mobilization on the grassroots level.
Tsai praised Su for his credibility and ability to listen to people, while Su reassured supporters that he and Tsai complement each other extremely well.
Meanwhile, in related developments, independent presidential hopeful Ellen Huang (黃越綏), who has yet to collect enough signatures to register for the election, wrote in her Facebook page that she would officially announce her decision to drop out of the race on Tuesday and offer her support to Tsai.
Huang, a long-time pro-independence advocate and a former national policy adviser during Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) presidency, had previously said that her main motive for participating in an election she had little chance of winning was to nudge Tsai into adopting a more independence-minded platform.