Thursday, June 19, 2014

DPP gears up for mayoral battle in northern Taiwan

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday officially confirmed its collaborative partnership with independent Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the Taipei mayoral election, putting in place the final piece of the puzzle as the party gears up for the mayoral race in northern Taiwan’s four major constituencies in November.

The party decided against nominating its own candidate and opted to support Ko in Taipei, where the DPP has failed to win since former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) served as mayor from 1994 to 1998.

In New Taipei City, the largest constituency where the DPP governed from 1989 and 2005, the party hopes that former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫?) can bring the DPP back to power. The two other candidates in the northern region are former DPP deputy secretary-general Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) and former lawmaker Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), who are representing the party in Keelung and Taoyuan County respectively.

If the DPP wanted to achieve the goal set by former chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) — winning half of the 22 administrative regions in the mayoral and commissioner elections — it would have to do well in northern Taiwan, where it has traditionally been an underdog.

Even if winning all four constituencies is a dream too good to be true, the DPP has to at least put up a good fight so that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will not be able to channel all its resources into a vital battleground — Greater Taichung — former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said.

Of the six special municipalities, the DPP is expected to win in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan, and securing Greater Taichung would be a nice shot in the arm for the party.

The general political and economic atmosphere has tilted in favor of the DPP due to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) poor governance and the corruption cases that have surfaced in KMT-governed cities.

In addition to alleged corruption in the Taipei Twin Tower project and the MeHAS City (美河市) project in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), ongoing investigations into potential corruption in an affordable housing project in Taoyuan County’s Bade District (八德), the Public Works Department of New Taipei City and alleged bribery involving Keelung Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) have reflected poorly on the KMT.

Yu said the central theme of the DPP’s campaign in northern Taiwan would inevitably center around the corruption cases involving KMT government officials.

The DPP is hoping the scandals would boost the chances for Cheng in Taoyuan and Lin in Keelung, as the party’s candidates lost by small margins to their rivals in the previous mayoral election.

However, the outlook is not all rosy for the DPP in Taipei and New Taipei City.

Yu is to compete with another opposition aspirant, Taiwan Solidarity Union’s Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉), in a poll by the end of this month to determine the final pan-green camp candidate. His KMT rival has yet to be determined because incumbent Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) has not announced whether he is running for re-election.

In Taipei, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), unhappy over the DPP’s cooperation with Ko and calling the party’s decision not to nominate its own candidate a “disgrace,” has said she might still enter the race.

Asked about the “X factor” that Lu represents, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the party “will keep its dialogue with Lu going” and hope for the best.