Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) last night announced he will not join next year’s presidential election as an independent.
Earlier yesterday, Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜), deputy chief executive of Gou’s Yonglin Foundation, said Gou appears to have reached a final decision on the matter. At the time she said Gou would make an announcement some time today before the Central Election Commission closes at 5:30pm.
Registration for prospective independent presidential candidates began on Friday and is to end today.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The tycoon on Thursday last week quit the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), expressing disappointment at the party’s reactionary politics.
In July, Gou lost the KMT’s presidential primary to Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) by 17 percentage points.
Gou already has an idea of who his vice presidential candidate would be if he is to run for president, but he did not reveal any details to aides, Tsai said.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has openly expressed his support for Gou running for president, and the two camps have stayed in touch through effective communication channels, Tsai said.
Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) joined a meeting with Gou’s team yesterday morning to discuss ways they could collaborate in next year’s presidential and legislative elections, Evelyn Tsai said.
Asked if some of the aides have changed their household registration address to prepare to run for legislators, Evelyn Tsai confirmed that she has changed hers to Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德).
“We are considering all possible options in which we could help make the nation better,” she said.
Kuo Shin-yi (郭昕宜), another aide of Gou’s, confirmed that she has changed her household registration address to Taichung’s North District (北區) for strategic and other reasons.
They will provide more information once it is confirmed, she said.
The Central Election Commission is to announce a list of prospective independent presidential candidates tomorrow.
From tomorrow to Nov. 2, the candidates must launch a signature drive to collect 280,384 valid signatures in support of their bid.
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