By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral hopeful yesterday called a press conference to defend his “Central Park” proposal in what appeared to be a last dash to the primary’s finishing line tonight.
A public opinion survey is to be conducted tonight to conclude the DPP’s primary.
DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) had proposed turning Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) into a 400-hectare grand park area to serve as the “green lungs” of the city.
Yao took the criticism of former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) about the airport closure project — his campaign’s “flagship program” — to heart, inviting architects who endorse the proposal to the press conference and urging Lu to “study the proposal before criticizing.”
Lu said that closing the airport would not be possible because of its proximity to the Heng Shan Military Command Center and the Yuan Shan Military Command Center, which are designed to withstand conventional bombing and nuclear attack.
She added that the Ministry of National Defense is also scheduled to move into a new compound in the area.
However, Yao said that having an airport close to the military compound could pose serious concerns to national security in the event of a terrorist attack.
He proposed closing the airport and transforming into a part that could revitalize the city’s old and dilapidated west side.
The 48-year-old is competing against fellow lawmaker Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) in the poll tonight, which pits each candidate against Chinese Nationalist Party candidate and former Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文).
The winner of the poll is to enter the second stage of the primary, which is to include independent hopefuls, National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and screenwriter Neil Peng (馮光遠). A final candidate will then be decided by another public opinion poll.