Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (???) announced on Thursday that he will resign from his position next week to seek his party’s nomination to run for mayor of one of Taiwan biggest cities, Taoyuan, showing his determination to win the election scheduled for November.
Lo said he will officially resign from the Taipei City Council on May 9, a move which he said would make history as no elected official has ever resigned from their position before they win their party’s nomination to run for another elected post.
The city of 2.27 million in northern Taiwan is the fifth most populous municipality in the country and is home to many industrial parks and the headquarters of many high-tech companies. It has been at the helm of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party since 2014.
Before the city was upgraded to the status of a special municipality following the merger of Taoyuan City and Taoyuan County in 2014, it was ruled by Eric Chu (???), the KMT’s current chairman, for eight years from 2001-2009, followed by the KMT’s John Wu (???) from 2009-2014.
Lo, 52, was elected to the Taipei City Council in 2018, representing the city’s Wenshan and Da’an districts. He served as spokesperson of the Presidential Office for about two years during the second term of former President Ma Ying-jeou (???).
After leaving the Taipei City Council, Lo plans to launch his campaign to get elected in Taoyuan, and will spend time on the campaign trail listening to what the city’s residents have to say and incorporate their views in his election platform, Lo said in a post on Facebook.
Despite his keen interests in running for Taoyuan mayor, however, Lo was reportedly lagging behind other prospective candidates of the KMT in the party’s polling.
That has led to rumors that the KMT leadership would give preference to other candidates who have a better chance than Lo of snatching back control of Taoyuan for the KMT.
Lu Yu-ling (???), a third-term Legislator of the KMT hailing from the city, has declared her candidacy for the election, while fellow Legislator Lu Ming-che (???) was said to be a clear frontrunner in the race and the party’s favored candidate.
The KMT decided in February that it would select nominees for November’s mayoral elections based on their chances of winning, instead of holding a primary, according to the party’s Secretary-General Justin Huang (???).
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel
