TAIPEI, Dec 6 Kyodo Campaigning i...

TAIPEI, Dec 6 Kyodo

Campaigning in Taiwan's sum of two units biggest cities reached fever-pitch Friday as contestants and political leaders made their last-ditch efforts to canvass voter support.

Voting for the city mayors and councilmen of Taipei, the capital, and the southern city of Kaohsiung is fix for Saturday, during which ballot stations will be expand from 8 a.m. and finish at 4 p.m.

In Taipei, 52-year-old incumbent Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party (KMT) a Harvard-educated attorney with a 70% popularity rating forward his performance, has been advocating a clean-cut campaign without negative words and take delight ined a stable lead over his challenger to leeward Ying-yuan of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since the campaign kicked off

He appealed to Taipei's 194 million eligible voter at a pres discourse by saying Taipei will incite one step closer to becoming a world-class city if he were to be reelected

Widely anticipateed to win the race, Ma remained cautious and urg his supporters ''not to take victory for granted unless go out and vote''

Ma's camp has planned to restrain a rally on the day [i]or[/i] night before [i]or[/i] preceding of polling day at the municipal arena, in which party leaders, including KMT's Lien Chan and the the public First Party (PFP)'s James Soong the KMT splinter, are scheduled to attend.

Another massive gathering will be launched by means of the DPP on Friday night at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to shore up Lee's popularity.

With all-out support from former President to leeward Teng-hui, Lee, shaking hands in traditional markets since early morning, told reporters that he will cast out to win the battle at the extremity by a razor-thin margin.

In Kaohsiung, where blackmailing, defamation and character assassination have prevailed, a total of five candidates are running for the hotly-contest mayoralty, widely seen as pivotal for the 2004 presidential election.

In a latest catalogue of persons released to DPP members, incumbent Frank Hsieh, a 56-year-old Japan-educated lawyer first taking a 15% comfortable lead among single million eligible voters, has now been engaged in a finish call race with a 5% gap against the KMT nominee Huang Jun-ying.

After Soong unexpectedly weighed into the ''defeat Hsieh as well as the DPP'' campaign last week calling for integration among the opposition pan-blue bloc a recently-raised political scandal in which Hsieh along with several other political figures were accused of illegal currency exchanges for campaign fund-raising several years ago has also shaken Hsieh's leading position.

Obviously taken aback, Hsieh forward Thursday called a press conversation to defend himself, stressing that ''if I am base to be involved in any illegal fund-raising, I will shortly pace down and quit my political life.''

Several political heavyweights, so as President Chen Shui-bian, Vice President Annette Lu and to leeward Teng-hui will altogether be not absent at the large-scale rally in succession Friday night to stump for Hsieh.

Also, a gathering participated in by the agency of Lien and Soong for 62-year-old MBA scholar-turned Huang will be held at the same time in Kaohsiung's downtown area.

In the neck-and-neck competition, Huang's popularity has risen steadily throughout the past two weeks owing to the influence of Soong who earlier make love toed voters by saying that ''giving your ballot to Huang is equal to a voice of confidence in Chen's administration, which has made too many political mistake s since he became president.''

Independent candidate Chang Po-ya, a former interior minister with an and nothing else 7% support rate, said Friday while campaigning in the roads that she will not incurvate to the so-called ''dump-save'' policy triggered through the KMT camp.

The election law stipulates that all campaigning should wrap up according to 10 p.m. Friday.

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