THE RACE The first direct presidential election seems to be going the way of incumbent leader President Lee Teng-hui.
The latest upturn in the performance of financial markets, the US deal to sell defence weapons to Taiwan and the lowering profile of Chinese military manoeuvres have all worked in Mr Lee's favour.
The manager of his campaign headquarters, Hung Hsiu-chu, said the Kuomintang could win more than 50 per cent of the vote.
Mr Lee and his election partner, Lien Chan, yesterday concentrated their campaigns in Taipei, where the KMT lost its ruling status to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in previous elections.
DPP candidate Dr Peng Ming-min has been canvassing in the south over the past two days to make sure his voters will not dump him for the Lee-Lien ticket at the last moment.
Dr Peng's camp will make its last dash today by holding rallies in four major areas of the island - the city and county of Taipei, Taichung city and Kaohsiung city.
Although polls have been banned since last week in order not to influence the election results, many scholars and poll centres say independent candidate Chen Li-an is catching up.
