Kuomintang candidate Lee Szu-chuan registered for the New Taipei mayoral race on Sept. 4, with Mayor Hou Yu-ih at his side throughout and saying he was handing Lee the baton. Forty-five council candidates from the KMT, the Taiwan People's Party and independent ranks rallied behind Lee under the theme "embracing all rivers," the Liberty Times reported.
Who turned out? KMT vice chairman Lee Chien-lung, legislators and more than 30 council candidates joined the morning registration, in a turnout that CNA reported also included six Taiwan People's Party council candidates and Tsai Chin-hsien, who convenes the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union caucus in the city council. Lee brought each council candidate in with a high-five and a photo before Hou made the closing entrance, putting an arm around the candidate's shoulders and shaking his hand.
What did the two men say? Hou called Lee the city's strongest leader and said the next eight years would be a construction peak for New Taipei, one that needs a career administrator from the grassroots who gets things done. "I want to hand the baton to Lee Szu-chuan," he said. Lee said he had walked all 29 of the city's districts, where one resident rode a scooter over just to bring him a drink, and that a diverse city of 4.04 million people had to "embrace all rivers," adding that he would build on the foundation Hou had laid. Hou also posted his backing for Lee on Facebook after the registration, which the Liberty Times reported was his first such post.
Who will run his campaign? Asked whether Hou would chair it, Hou said it was not a question of positions between the two of them, while Lee called him "my biggest backer," PTS reported. Lee Chien-lung said Hou had already been settled as campaign chairman, pending a formal announcement. The candidate also said Hou would appear at a large rally in Banqiao on Sept. 12.
How did the DPP respond? Su Chiao-hui, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, said she respected each candidate's own pace, PTS reported. The race had reached its final stage, she said, and her campaign's Sept. 5 launch, to which the Liberty Times reported senior figures had been invited, would be its first major event.
