DPP heavyweights rally behind Lai-Hsiao ticket on eve of election day
ROC Central News Agency
01/12/2024 11:34 PM
New Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leaders rallied in New Taipei on Friday evening to drum up support for the party's presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德), hours before Taiwanese head to the polls to choose the country's next leader.
"In less than 24 hours, the people of Taiwan will once again make a decision" that will shape the future of the country, Tsai said of the presidential election slated for Saturday, urging the public "not to cast [their] ballots out of hatred, but to do so out of [their] love of country."
Tsai, who cannot run again as she nears the end of her second term, outlined her administration's achievements over the past eight years, including pushing for defense reforms, legalizing same-sex marriage, promoting green energy, and expanding social welfare programs, among others.
"We have also upheld our commitment to maintain the status quo [in the Taiwan Strait]," thus earning trust in and support for Taiwan from the international community, she told the event attended by roughly 200,000 people, according to figures provided by the DPP.
"We should continue on this path," Tsai continued, as she called for support for Lai, who is also the incumbent vice president and DPP chairman, and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), saying the two would "be better" at leading the country than herself.
"Taiwan cannot afford to take the wrong path and it cannot go backwards," she said, adding that while the DPP "is not perfect," it always learns from its mistakes and endeavors to make improvements.
Meanwhile, former Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) seized the opportunity to attack Lai's main opponent Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) of the Kuomintang (KMT), calling him "capricious."
Hou has promptly distanced himself from former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT, despite having previously referred to Ma as his "teacher" and pledged to continue his policy toward China, shortly after Ma drew controversy in an interview published earlier this week, Su said.
Su was alluding to Ma's interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), during which Ma, when asked if he can trust Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平), said "as far as cross-strait relations, you have to."
Ma also said he did not think that Xi was pushing for Taiwan's unification with China, despite acknowledging it as Beijing's ultimate goal.
Hou later called the former president's view "somewhat different" from his own.
Su, who currently does not hold any official role, also slammed Hou, who is the incumbent New Taipei mayor, for endorsing plans to reactivate the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei's Gongliao District.
Prior to entering the presidential race, Hou had strongly opposed any proposals to reactivate the power plant, Su said, while comparing the KMT candidate's fickleness with "flipping through pages."
In his remarks, Lai pledged to "lead the country fearlessly forward" amid volatile international circumstances and the various challenges ahead.
The country under the leadership of the DPP government is heading in the right direction, witnessing numerous successful reforms, Lai said, calling on supporters to keep the hard-won accomplishments intact and let his party continue working to bring about progress for Taiwan.
"If elected president, I will continue [leading Taiwan] on the path of democracy and peace," Lai pledged, "I will stand with the world's free and democratic camp, and more importantly, I will always stand by the people of Taiwan."
The DPP candidate made the most of his Friday. Shortly after canvassing in the streets of Taipei in a motorcade in the late afternoon, Lai headed south to Tainan -- a DPP stronghold and the starting point for his three-decade long political career -- for a rally.
Lai then traveled back to the north again to attend the party's final rally in New Taipei ahead of the Jan. 13 elections.
(By Teng Pei-ju)
Enditem/AW
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
