Soong Launches Presidential Bid

l  Taiwan's People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong formally announced his bid for the presidential election, turning the January 2012 contest for Taiwan's top political office into a three-way race.

l  The much-anticipated decision meant that Soong will be running against the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the second time in his political career. Moreover, his candidacy represented another organized attempt to break the deepening Blue-Green divide characteristic of Taiwan’s domestic politics since 2000.

l  The precise impact of Soong’s presidential bid remains unclear. Since Soong has consistently been able to capture 12-15 percent support in opinion polls, neither the KMT nor the DPP could afford to take his candidacy lightly. The final 100 days of the campaign should be, at least, intense and interesting.

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