TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former legislative candidate Enoch Wu (吳怡農) said Thursday he will seek the Taipei mayoral nomination, CNA reported.

Wu, a former Army special forces corporal, said there is no need to rush campaign preparations since the election is a year away. He suggested the DPP nomination committee consider whether it needs to finalize a Taipei candidate by year’s end.

The DPP election strategy committee met Wednesday to review potential candidates for 22 county and city races. Taipei City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) was also discussed, per CNA.

Wu said Taiwan should focus on reconstruction following recent natural disasters in Hualien, which he said is what the public cares about most now.

He added that Forward Alliance and its volunteers continue to take part in reconstruction work, and that building stronger prevention systems is equally important.

Wu founded Forward Alliance, a nonprofit focused on national security and emergency response. The group has organized citizen training programs to improve crisis resilience.

The soon-to-be mayoral candidate also ran as the DPP’s nominee in a legislative by-election in 2022 but lost to KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇). He previously lost a challenge to then-incumbent legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) — now Taipei mayor — in the 2020 election for Taipei’s 3rd district.