Vice Premier Eric Liluan Chu confirmed his interest Friday in running for mayor of the upgraded Taipei County, to be known as Xinbei City, saying it's a given that he will move his household registration to the county in April or May. Chu, who has been reluctant to discuss his candidacy because the Kuomintang has yet to formally nominate him to run in the race, finally announced his intentions in an interview with the Chinese-language Commercial Times published Thursday. 'From beginning to end, I have never refused or excluded the possibility. It is an extremely honorable mission, ' Chu said in the interview. To be eligible to run in Xinbei City, considered by some as the most crucial of the five municipalities being contested late this year, candidates must have had their households registered in the district for at least four months prior to the election. When asked if he would change his household registration in April or May, Chu answered that it was 'a given' but said the schedule would be coordinated with the KMT's nominating process. Chu, a former Taoyuan County magistrate who took up the Cabinet post last September, said he will probably announce his candidacy in May or June, in line with the party's needs. Asked to comment on the interview, KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung said Friday Chu's statements are tantamount to a public announcement of his electoral bid. King has recently traveled to Taichung County/City, Kaohsiung County/City and Tainan County/City to coordinate the party's nomination process in those municipalities. He is also expected to address the nomination issues for the two municipalities in northern Taiwan -- Taipei City and Xinbei City -- next week. Xinbei City may be the most prized of the five muncipalities because it has the largest electorate and is the most open of the races, as incumbent magistrate Chou Hsi-wei of the KMT was forced to abandon his bid for re-election because of low popularity ratings. On the party's selection process, King said he has asked the KMT chapters in cities and counties being contested to come up with rosters of KMT members who have publicly expressed their intentions to run in the elections by April 3. The party is scheduled to begin public opinion surveys in the relevant constituencies in mid-April to measure each hopeful's public support rating, an important factor in deciding the party's final slate of candidates, King said. The questions to be asked in the surveys will be presented to all hopefuls before mid-April for a review, and once the questions are agreed upon, the company to conduct the poll will be selected, King said. All aspirants will be allowed to assign representatives to observe the polling process. King said he will travel to southern Taiwan to begin a second stage of coordiantion after the opinion poll results are available. 'The coordination process must be kept transparent, open, fair and just,' King stressed. Asked whether the lists of hopefuls to be subject to public opinion polls will be unveiled April 3, King said party headquarters will fully respect the wishes of all potential candidates. If someone wants to keep his or her candidacy confidential, King said, the party will not publicize the full lists. King acknowledged that the KMT will face an uphill battle in the Tainan City/County constituency, which has traditionally been a stronghold of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). To promote internal unity, King said the party will certainly work out a fair nomination mechanism acceptable to all those concerned. As central and southern Taiwan residents tend to attach great importance to grassroots or local links, King said the KMT is unlikely to field candidates who do not have roots in those electoral districts. 