Former premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday proposed two scenarios in which he would “unconditionally support” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and one in which he would ask for Tsai’s support, after a meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Executive Committee (CEC) to decide the dates and rules for the party’s presidential primary ended in a stalemate.
For the first time, a CEC meeting was broadcast live, but there were still disagreements and another meeting is needed to finalize details.
After the meeting concluded without an agreement, Lai met with several party leaders at DPP headquarters in the evening before holding a news conference.
Lai is the sole challenger to the president for the party’s nomination, and the two camps have been at loggerheads on the primary rules, to the consternation of many DPP members and grassroots supporters.
Lai said he told party leaders that “it is important to continue with the primary, and public support polling could be between President Tsai and me, as well as head-to-head comparisons with the main candidate of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT].”
“Most people believe that [Kaohsiung Mayor] Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is the KMT’s leading candidate and that it will nominate him,” Lai said, outlining three possible outcomes.
If Tsai wins in a public survey against Han, “I will unconditionally support the president to be our party’s candidate and her campaign for re-election,” Lai said.
“If I lose in a public survey against Han, I will also unconditionally support Tsai’s bid for a second term,” he said.
However, “if the public survey shows that I can defeat Han, and Han is shown to win over Tsai, then I will request that Tsai and the DPP executives, along with all party officials and members, support me in the presidential election,” he added.
Lai arrived in the afternoon while the committee was still meeting.
After a two-hour discussion between party officials and delegates representing Tsai and Lai, DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) called a break, during which Lai talked in private with Cho, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
At the start of the meeting, Cho had proposed conducting public opinion surveys from June 10 to 14 and recommended that telephone polling adopt different proportions of landline and mobile phones.
However, no agreement was reached on comparing survey data for Tsai and Lai, whether to include a comparison against Han and whether Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) should also be included.
“Our party’s primary mechanism is not set up for one particular person to win, nor to try to win just one election,” Cho said
“We are doing our best to mediate between the two camps, but if no agreement can be reached, then the party should follow the ground rules set on March 13,” he added.
The meeting was adjourned until Wednesday next week, Cho said.
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