By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) yesterday announced his bid to run for Yunlin County commissioner in next year’s election, making the county one of the most fiercely contested constituencies in the DPP primaries.
Liu’s announcement made him the fourth candidate in the primary, following at-large DPP Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), former Keelung mayor Lee Chin-yung (李進勇), who is backed by Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), and former Yunlin County councilor Lin Chin-ting (林進丁).
Speaking to supporters at his Douliou City (斗六) office yesterday morning, Liu described how he worked his way up from city councilor to DPP legislator and said he is confident he is the candidate who knows Yunlin best because of his close ties and engagement with local communities.
Liu said he waited to announce his bid until after the DPP headquarters unveiled the party primary regulations out of “respect for the party mechanism.”
The party finalized its nomination process for next year’s seven-in-one elections on Aug. 14.
DPP headquarters is to oversee negotiations in those constituencies with two or more aspirants if private discussions between them fail to achieve a result.
If all attempts at negotiation fail, public opinion polls will be held to determine the final candidate in those constituencies.
Liu cited his campaign slogan: “Do the right thing,” as a response to Su, after the commissioner criticized Liu for entering the race as an incumbent lawmaker, saying that he would do everything to serve the public interests.
In addition, Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), who has won the public’s support for his governance, also entered the mayoral election in 2010 as a DPP lawmaker, Liu said.