Third party candidate enters Taipei mayor's race

TAIPEI, Oct 17 (Reuters) The outspoken head of a minority party declared his candidacy for Taipei mayor today, threatening to split a political alliance with the mainstream Nationalist Party.

China-born James Soong, 64, declared his candidacy for the upcoming December election.

The Nationalist Party was hoping to retain the Taipei mayor's post by banding its large voting base with Soong's more right-leaning People First Party, collectively labelled the pan-blue alliance in local politics.

The Nationalists are highly critical of their biggest opponent, the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, and its most prominent member, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, and were hoping to send the ruling party a message with a strong mayoral race showing.

Soong and Lee Teng-hui, who was president from 1988 to 2000, ran the Nationalist Party in the 1990s, but they grew apart when Soong was not awarded the premier's job. Soong split off to run his own presidential campaign in 2000.

Four years later, Soong ran for vice president on a joint ticket with Nationalist Party leader Lien Chan, but the pair lost to incumbent President Chen Shui-bian by a 0.2 per cent margin.

REUTERS BDP BS1652