Wei Ping-cheng registers for Changhua race as Wang Hui-mei stays away

Wei Ping-cheng completed his registration as the Kuomintang’s candidate for Changhua County magistrate on the morning of Sept. 3. One prominent absence drew more attention than the registration itself: incumbent Magistrate Wang Hui-mei did not appear.

Changhua Council Speaker Hsieh Tien-lin accompanied Wei to the county election commission and said, “Everyone is waiting for her to come home!” Hsieh joked that Wang, who is no longer running, had already “found relief from suffering,” while Wei’s bid for a new term remained in “deep water.” He said the county magistrate should return to help “save everyone.”

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Everyone is waiting for her to come home!

Wang was instead attending the 93rd Armed Forces Day autumn ceremony honoring the war dead. Her absence also leaves the chairmanship of Wei’s campaign headquarters undecided. Hsieh said an incumbent county magistrate would normally be the most suitable chair because Wang commands considerable support. Asked whether she would attend Wei’s campaign headquarters launch on Sept. 6, he replied, “I’m not her, so I can’t answer for her.”

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I’m not her, so I can’t answer for her.

Hsieh said Wang remained the top priority, adding that “Everyone is waiting for her to come home.” Local Kuomintang supporters have recently suggested that Hsieh take the chairmanship. He said he would accept the responsibility if necessary, but argued that the position carries symbolic and unifying importance and should go to a senior, representative party figure. When reporters asked whether that excluded Wang, he quickly replied, “No, no,” and repeated that she remained the first choice.

Wei’s wife, prosecutor Hsu Yu-ju, appeared publicly at an election event for the first time and attended with their daughter. Local party chair Hsiao Ching-tien, Hsieh, former legislator Cheng Ju-fen and nearly 100 supporters also joined the registration, where Wei led supporters in chants calling for victory.

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No, no.