Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairmanship contenders Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) and Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) held election-eve press conferences yesterday to drum up last-minute support for their respective bids.
A group of young people led by Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) and political commentator Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) gathered to speak on behalf of the 82-year-old Koo.
Koo vowed to rejuvenate the DPP and rekindle the public’s passion for the party.
“Taiwan’s future lies with the DPP. We need more new troops to join the party and rebuild its image. The DPP is not a party that only belongs to a handful of political stars,” Koo said.
Koo campaign manager Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) said again that members of the disbanded New Tide faction could leave the party if Koo won the election.
“Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), a leader of the faction, had said the DPP would split if Tsai lost, which shows that the faction has a ‘plan A’ and a ‘plan B.’ ‘Plan B’ is that the faction would form a new party if Tsai loses,” Chen said.
At her press conference, Tsai called her rival camp “immoral” for trying to turn the election into factional infighting, adding that DPP supporters care more about whether the party will regain its footing or that its leader can pull the party together.
“Following our defeat in the presidential election, we must conduct self-examination with modesty. We hope the public will give the DPP one more chance,” she said.
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