Monday, September 05, 2011

DPP to hold its congress in Taichung on Sept. 25

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold its annual party congress on Sept. 25 in Greater -Taichung, a DPP source said yesterday. This comes amid allegations that local government authorities pressured a landowner to turn down a lease agreement for the establishment of new national DPP campaign headquarters.

The congress and the celebration of the party’s anniversary will be held at Taichung Municipal Shuang Shih Junior High School, while a rally to promote the DPP’s legislative candidates will be held at Gan Cheng Park, the source said.

The party decided to combine its congress, the celebration of its Sept. 28 anniversary and the outdoor rally into a three-in-one -campaign activity after it was forced to postpone the Aug. 28 congress because of the approach of Typhoon Nanmadol.

DPP spokesperson Kang Yu-cheng (康裕成) said last week that Greater Taichung was the preferred location for the rally because the DPP believes that central Taiwan will likely be the deciding battleground in January’s presidential election.

Another DPP source told the Taipei Times yesterday that the national presidential campaign headquarters of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would remain in Banciao (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市), after the landowner of an alternative location reportedly declined to sign a lease agreement.

The owner of the plot of land where Tsai’s camp was planning to establish its headquarters, a site across from the Banciao Train Station, was reportedly pressured by local government authorities to turn down the offer.

The new location will be a plot of land adjacent to the planned spot, the source said.

DPP staff said Tsai preferred to keep her campaign headquarters in New Taipei City, where she ran in the mayoral election last year.

The scramble to find a -location for the campaign headquarters has highlighted the DPP’s troubles in securing venues and outdoor spaces to hold campaign activities nationwide.

Various media reports have said the party has been turned down by schools and local governments to host its campaign events. There has been speculation that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was behind the decisions.