President Ma Ying-jeou and his running mate Premier Wu Den-yih were the first presidential candidates to register for the January 14 election at the Central Election Commission Monday morning.
Opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and her running mate Su Jia-chyuan are expected to show up on Wednesday, while People First Party Chairman James Soong and his vice-presidential choice, Lin Ruey-shiung, could pick Thursday or Friday, reports said. Allegations that Lin might still hold United States citizenship and therefore be ineligible to run for election have thrown doubts on that timing.
Ma and Wu visited the CEC at 9 a.m. in the company of up to 200 young campaign workers, most of who waited outside while the candidates filed their documents. When they started shouting slogans in support of Ma, the president asked them to stop in order not to interfere with CEC employees.
The candidates also handed over a check worth NT$15 million (US$495,000) as stipulated by the election law. Aides said Ma had not chosen the date and time to register for any propitious connotations. The president just wanted to complete the necessary paperwork as soon as possible, reports said.
Full Article: Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou registers for presidential election – Taiwan News Online.