TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The three main candidates in the Nov. 26 Taipei City mayoral elections battled for the favor of voters in the only televised debate of the campaign on Saturday (Nov. 5).
Even though 12 candidates registered, only three seen as likely contenders were invited. Former Vice Mayor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) is running as an independent with the backing of Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). She faces legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), a grandson of late President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), for the Kuomintang (KMT); and former Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
During the two-hour debate, the three questioned each other on a wide range of issues, from the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic to the controversial Taipei Dome project and coping with an aging population.
Chiang said he wanted to restore Taipei’s status as the country’s wealthiest city and stem the outflow of residents, while Huang emphasized her experience of serving for 21 years as a member of Taipei City Council before joining Ko’s team. She said she hoped to become the capital’s first woman mayor and called on voters to turn their back on the traditional KMT-DPP rivalry. Chen talked about the need to improve traffic and build more social housing to help relieve pressure on younger and less well-off residents.
Huang brought up the subject of the declining number of residents in Taipei, to which Chiang responded by proposing a NT$50,000 (US$1,560) subsidy for each birth. Chen launched the idea of NT$36,000 for each mother’s month-long post-partum care.
Regarding the threat from China, Chen said he would strengthen the capital’s civil defense system, the Liberty Times reported. He accused the current city administration of having cut the number of civil defense members by 22,000 in two years.
Taipei City has been been described as a KMT stronghold, with elected mayors from that party governing from 1998 to 2014. The DPP hasn’t ruled the capital since 1998, though it backed Ko as an independent in the 2014 election. Since Ko is reaching the end of his second term on Dec. 25., he is no longer allowed to run.