Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) worked out its nomination rules Wednesday for the mayoral and council member elections scheduled for December in five municipalities. The rules, hammered out by the party's decision-making Central Executive Committee, require that DPP nominees for the municipalities where the party holds power be selected by the end of May through public surveys. Meanwhile, the DPP will recruit potential members to run for mayoral office in the municipalities that are not currently controlled by the party, and will keep the nomination deadline flexible. Taiwan will hold elections for mayors and councilors in five municipalities -- including Taipei City -- following an upgrade of Taipei County to the status of a municipality like Taipei City, and mergers of the city and county of Taichung, the city and county of Tainan, and the city and county of Kaohsiung. With the number of eligible voters accounting for over 60 percent of the country's electorate, the municipality elections are widely regarded as an indicator of the 2012 presidential election results. The DPP currently holds the city and county of Kaohsiung and the city and county of Tainan in southern Taiwan which is traditionally a DPP stronghold. The party's nominees for council seats will be selected by means of public polls, said DPP spokesman Tsai Chi-chang after the meeting. If necessary, the nomination process will be delayed to allow more latitude, with the approval of the executive committee, Tsai said. According to a participant in the meeting who asked not to be named, the DPP would give itself latitude, if necessary, to decide on its nominee for Hsinpei City (Taipei County) only after the ruling Kuomintang has named its candidate. But Hung Chih-kun, a close aide of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, criticized the party's decision not to pick mayoral nominees until the end of May, saying it is contrary to the wishes of a majority of party members who have called for an early nomination. The decision also runs counter to DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing- wen's repeated promise that the mayoral nominations would be concluded before March, Hung said. The rules will be finalized at an extraordinary DPP party congress scheduled for Jan. 24. 