Li Si-chuan registers to run for New Taipei mayor as Hou Yu-ih calls for a handover
Kuomintang New Taipei mayoral candidate Li Si-chuan has completed his election registration, with the pan-blue camp and allied parties presenting a show of unity that puts pressure on his Democratic Progressive Party rival, Su Chiao-hui.
- Li Si-chuan registered his candidacy at the New Taipei City Election Commission, accompanied throughout by incumbent Mayor Hou Yu-ih, who publicly declared that he "wants to hand the baton to Li Si-chuan."
- Six Taiwan People's Party city council candidates and an independent councillor also turned up in support, forming a cross-party campaign line-up.
- KMT Vice Chairman Li Chien-lung, legislators and more than 30 city council candidates joined the same rally, built around the slogan "the sea accepts all rivers."
- Li Si-chuan stressed that he has spent his whole life as a civil servant with no political patron, and that he would build on the foundation of public works left by Hou Yu-ih.
- DPP candidate Su Chiao-hui set up her campaign headquarters on the 5th, marking the official start of the contest between the two sides.
Outlook: Li Si-chuan will hold a large campaign rally in Banqiao on the 12th, with Hou Yu-ih appearing on stage in support, as the New Taipei mayoral race moves into a head-to-head confrontation.