TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Less than a week before the presidential election, candidates from the three major political parties traveled to southern Taiwan for campaign rallies aimed at supporters and undecided voters, per CNA.

KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) turned to the past, conjuring up the policies and accomplishments of former Taiwan leader Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) for inspiration. TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) called for voters to seek a new path, and DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德) asked Kaohsiung residents to consolidate support where the DPP has traditionally been dominant.

KMT candidate Hou held his campaign rally on Kaohsiung’s Shihdai Boulevard, which included a visit by the party’s stalwarts such as former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), and former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜). Rally organizers claim all 20,000 seats at the venue were occupied during the event.

TPP's Ko Wen-je asks voters to choose a new path for Taiwan. (CNA photo)

Hou said he was confident of victory in the election to be held on Saturday (Jan. 13). He criticized the DPP platform, which he summarized as the abolition of the death penalty, Taiwan independence, and a non-nuclear homeland. Hou said Kaohsiung residents already have the highest lung cancer rate in Taiwan, and opposition to nuclear power could worsen this problem.

The TPP's Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was also in Kaohsiung on Sunday (Jan. 7), canvassing urban areas such as the Pier 2 Art Center and a local night market before holding a rally at nearby Aozidi Forest Park. Campaign staff claimed 60,000 people attended the rally

Ko wasted little time in framing the election as a showdown between “new politics and old forces, a battle between ruling by rationality and pragmatism and ruling by ideology, as well as a face-off between the power of civic movements versus traditional factions." Ko urged voters to make a decision that will leave a better Taiwan for the next generation.

DPP's Lai Ching-te seeks to consolidate support in southern Taiwan. (CNA photo)

And finally, DPP's Lai Ching-te (賴清德) held a major rally in Kaohsiung’s Fengshan District, with supporters arriving from all directions. An estimated 40,000 people were claimed to have attended.

In his speech, Lai said the presidential campaign had entered the most critical juncture, appealing to all Kaohsiung residents to turn out for the vote. Lai said he hoped to not only be elected the next president but also earn a DPP majority in the legislature.