James Soong (宋楚瑜, left), Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩)

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Registration for the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections opened Monday and will run through Nov. 27, with opposition People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) and his running mate Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) set Tuesday to take the lead among the three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates in registration.

Ruling Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and running mate Wang Ju-hsuan (王如玄) are scheduled to register the following day, while the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her running mate Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) have not yet decided when they will register, according to party sources.

A DPP spokesman said that after the party decides on a date for the registration, it will make an announcement.

Each pair of presidential and vice presidential candidates must submit a deposit of NT$15 million (US$459,404) when they register, according to Central Election Commission rules. (H.H. Lu, Claudia Liu and Evelyn Kao)

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