President Ma Ying-jeou, in his capacity as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, visited Hsinchu yesterday to attend the campaign rallies of Chiu Ching-chun, the party's candidate for county magistrate in the Dec.5 election.Two weeks before the election, President Ma has been making a series of trips to counties and cities around the island.In the past week alone, he has traveled to Pingtung in the south, Yunlin in central Taiwan and the northeastern county of Yilan.
In Hsinchu, the president joined Chiu's campaign rallies in four townships, in the hope that his presence would give a boost to Chiu, who is facing a strong challenge from the independent candidate Chang Bi-ching.
Chang, Hsinchu County council speaker, was expelled from the KMT when she registered to run for the magistrate seat against the party's selected nominee.
Meanwhile, at the inaugural ceremony of the Chung Hsing New Village research park preparations office in central Taiwan, Premier Wu Den-yih reiterated that the administration is constantly being tested as the people expect efficiency and integrity.He refuted speculations that the upcoming election could be a mid-term test for the president.
The premier said Friday that voters would be more concerned about the image, popularity and political record of individual candidates and their campaign efforts in the local three-in-one elections for magistrates and mayors, county council members and township chiefs.
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