Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday described the loss of the candidate he backed in the Taipei legislative by-election on Sunday as “part of life,” but added that soliciting grassroots support is difficult without party affiliation.
His favored candidate, Chen Su-yu (陳思宇), finished a distant third in the poll, which saw five candidates vie for the legislative seat left vacant by Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who resigned during his unsuccessful bid for Taipei mayor last year.
DPP legislative candidate Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) won the seat.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The race was described as a test of Ko’s potential in next year’s elections.
Asked about the election results, Ko said: “Whether it was a success or a failure, it was nothing but part of life.”
What is different is “you have to write more evaluations after a defeat than a success,” Ko said, adding that the results were “pretty much as predicted by opinion polls.”
Some have said that a lack of organized support could be Ko’s Achilles heel if he decides to run for president and Ko said that without party backing, it would be very difficult to solicit votes.
Niu Tse-hsun (鈕則勳), head of Chinese Culture University’s advertising department, said the by-election results showed that Ko’s camp had trouble converting “online air votes” into “real votes.”
This should make Ko seriously reconsider whether he should set up his own political party, Niu said.
Asked if he wants to form a party, Ko said: “I do not know,” adding that in people’s minds, there is a constant process of thinking and revising.
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