Taiwan opposition chief Tsai Ing-wen registers as 2016 presidential candidate
DPP leader set to be the pro-independent party's standard bearer in 2016
Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party leader Dr Tsai Ing-wen has registered to run in the party's primary for the 2016 presidential election.
Tsai is expected to represent the pro-independence DPP against the ruling Kuomintang's candidate in the election, which is seen to be in DPP's favour after KMT's crushing defeat in November's local government polls.
No other DPP bigwigs have expressed interest in running for the primary. DPP rising star, Tainan mayor William Lai Ching-te, and former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang both said they would not run in the primary, clearing the way for Tsai to become the party's standard bearer for the presidential election.
"Taiwan needs a new alternative and a new political culture," Tsai told a Taipei news conference after registering her candidacy. "Now is the time to build a new political culture with transparency, integrity, people's tolerance and participation."
She vowed to maintain cross-strait stability, but stressed that unlike the KMT, which prioritises cross-strait relations, she believed it was more important for the government leader to safeguard the island's sovereignty.
Analysts say KMT's November defeat gives the DPP - which led the government from 2000 to 2008 - a bigger chance of returning to power in 2016.