Yilan County Speaker Zhang Shengde competed for the establishment of the General Assembly. His father Zhang Jianrong, who served as speaker for 4 terms, was ill and presented the flag.

Yilan County Speaker Zhang Shengde (right) established the competition committee today, and his father Zhang Jianrong (middle) presented the flag despite being ill. (Photo by reporter Jiang Zhixiong)

Yilan County Speaker Zhang Shengde of the Kuomintang held a campaign headquarters inauguration meeting today (1st). Party Chairman Zheng Liwen made a special trip to Yilan to support him. His father Zhang Jianrong, who has been the speaker for four terms, also fell ill and presented the battle flag to his son. He implored supporters to support Zhang Shengde's re-election.

Zhang Jianrong, who is 80 years old, has been elected to 7 terms in total, including 1 term as a member, 2 terms as deputy speaker, and 4 terms as speaker, breaking the tradition of Yixian County Council’s previous speaker serving for 2 terms. After resigning in 2022, Zhang Shengde took over and ran for the election, and was elected as speaker for the first time he was elected as a member, demonstrating his strong grassroots strength.

54-year-old Zhang Shengde originally wanted to run for county magistrate, but in the KMT primary election in February this year, he was defeated by Wu Zongxian, a legislator from the blue camp.

Today, Zhang Jianrong conferred the flag to Zhang Shengde with the support of others. He said that he was hospitalized for more than a month due to illness and was unable to ask for help in person. He asked the villagers to continue to support Zhang Shengde. Supporters at the scene shouted, "Come on, old speaker, Zhang Shengde is frozen." Zhang Shengde said that during the current term of office, the Speaker will actively strive for local construction funds. If he is re-elected, the construction around the Yilan River will be included in the key tasks.

At the founding meeting of the competition, Cheng Laiwen, Wu Zongxian and Zhang Shengde shared the stage to build momentum. Cheng Laiwen praised Wu and Zhang as the "best partners".

Zhang Jianrong (middle, holding a microphone), supported by others, implores everyone to support Zhang Shengde (right) for re-election. (Photo by reporter Jiang Zhixiong)

Cheng Lai Man (from left), Wu Zongxian, and Zhang Shengde are in the same frame today to promote the event. (Photo by reporter Jiang Zhixiong)

At the inaugural meeting of Zhang Shengde's campaign, a large number of supporters came in and shouted, "Don't be fooled." (Photo by reporter Jiang Zhixiong)