The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) recently nominated its legislative candidates for several electoral districts. While TPP Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) repeatedly tells the media that he believes both the pan-blue and pan-green camps are “trash,” the TPP’s own legislative hopefuls actually lie on points across the political spectrum, from green to blue, and some of them are even well-connected in China.
Can this party still be considered the “white” camp? If the other two parties truly are rubbish, why then has the TPP embraced candidates rejected by them?
Regarding itself as a “soft” party, the TPP allows its members to hold dual party memberships, which is strange in itself. This was originally a “backdoor clause” drawn up to allow Ko to seek nomination from another party in next year’s presidential election, and it seems meaningless now that he is not running for president. So why does the party still retain this condition? Holding on to it shows that the party is opportunistic and lacks principles.
Ko once said that if someone has no ideals or dreams, then everything for them is negotiable and replaceable. However, some TPP members are pan-green politicians who switched sides after losing in their party primaries, while others are second-generation pan-blue politicians or die-hard supporters who switched teams because of their discontent with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜). Do they understand the TPP’s core values?
Some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members opposed the 2014 Sunflower movement, but, preposterously, they have since joined the party led by Ko, who rose politically thanks to the Sunflower movement. Frankly speaking, they simply have no ideals and are only concerned with the benefits of this exchange.
Do they really believe they can resuscitate their careers simply by joining the TPP? Ko is driven by self-interest, so when these politicians — or even the party itself — one day become useless to him, he could turn his back on them overnight.
Take the relationship between Ko and Han for example. Ko used to praise Han, saying that he was much more “talented and capable” than people thought.
Ko also reportedly said that during Han’s 16-year absence from politics, when he did little for 12 years before a four-year stint as manager of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co (TAPMC), Han read countless books to enrich himself.
However, on July 17, after Han became a laughing stock among young people, Ko changed his tone, and said Han’s standards were not very high, and that while he may have been qualified to serve as TAPMC general manager, he is far from qualified to be head of state.
Looking at the past amicable relationship between Ko and Han and that Ko even once praised Han for being “talented and capable,” makes it clear that Ko lacks core values and ideals.
There are numerous examples of Ko’s lack of virtues. The TPP is a one-man party, and it will inevitably rise or fall with Ko’s popularity. Since he has lost momentum, it will also be difficult for the party to maintain its own political drive.
The legislative candidates who have jumped on the TPP bandwagon should get off as quickly as they can. The sooner they distance themselves from Ko, the better their chances of maintaining their reputations.
If they insist on staying with someone that both the pan-blue and pan-green camps have abandoned, their political futures will not look bright.
Michael Lin is a postgraduate student at National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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