TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former New Power Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said Saturday (Oct. 1) he was backing independent candidate Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) for mayor of Taipei City.

Huang, a former deputy mayor, has the support of incumbent Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is barred by law from running for a third consecutive term in the elections scheduled for Nov. 26.

Huang Kuo-chang, a leading figure of the 2014 Sunflower student protests, told an NPP election rally in Taipei Saturday that if he were a resident of the capital, which he was not, he would vote for Huang Shan-shan, the Liberty Times reported.

The independent defended her presence at the NPP event by emphasizing the role of a third force in local politics. Concern for city issues was more important than ideology in local elections, she said, pointing at her 24 years in politics for the Neihu and Nangang districts.

Huang Shan-shan said that once elected mayor, she would form an alliance of like-minded city councilors to promote local interests and achieve progress for the capital.

However, the NPP’s current chair, Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), said her predecessor did not represent the party’s official stance, CNA reported. She said the small party had not even discussed yet which candidate to support in the mayoral election.

Huang Shan-shan’s two main rivals will be former Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Wayne Chiang (蔣萬安), a grandson of late President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).