The elections this weekend are not just for mayors but for city councilors as well. And many candidates this time have been running without the backing of a major party, which makes their campaign process difficult, and their victories unlikely. However, that doesn't mean their policy proposals are less worthy of public attention.

Green Party Taipei City councilor candidate Pan Han-sheng canvassed for votes on his bicycle.

Although the issues of global warming and weather changes have raised the awareness of environmental protection, the party only had won seat in the National Assembly in its founding year since 1996.

The total number of seats of other Green Party in more than 80 countries in the world exceeds 350.

The situation in Taiwan is far from satisfactory.

Local gay rights group support Wang Ping to run in the Taipei City Council election.

She says the current political environment and rules of the game are unfair to candidates from small political parties or who run independently.

But they hope the public can give more attention to gay rights and gender issues through their participation in such elections.

Since their agenda are much more specific than those with party nomination, their platforms usually do not appeal to big corporations or political parties.

Therefore, it's hard for them to get election resources.

Coming from a labor group, Taipei city councilman candidate Hong Lien-tsu supports the anti-outsourcing campaign, saying he's reluctant to raise fund from business conglomerates and even small donations don't amount to much.

Therefore, the televised political views forum is a rare chance for him to share with voters his perspectives.

Although these candidates do not have enough resources than their rivals who are endorsed by political parties, they are brave enough to participate in the election in the hope to get the support from voters and get them to think about related social issues.