Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) decisive win in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary might present a great challenge for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but the DPP would put its best effort into supporting President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election campaign, DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
The KMT earlier yesterday announced the results of its primary poll, with Han commanding 44.8 percent of the vote.
That was a significant lead over his closest rival, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), who took 27.73 percent of the vote.
Photo: CNA
Asked about the KMT poll results, Cho said the DPP hoped the KMT would put forth its most ideal candidate and would not accept defeat.
“Only when the DPP is at its strongest and the KMT at its strongest would the elected president be Taiwan’s strongest, and only Taiwan’s strongest can protect Taiwan,” Cho said.
The KMT’s next step would be to build party unity, Cho said, adding that Tsai’s campaign strategy would be related to how successful the KMT is at achieving party unity.
The DPP would draw from its experience as well as new ideas from younger party members in developing Tsai’s campaign, and would engage the public in dialogue, he said.
“The protection of Taiwan should be the greatest common factor among all candidates, and we urge the public not to allow anyone to undermine that premise and become a threat to the nation,” he said.
Quoting film director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真), who has said “home is where the heart is,” Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that in his haste to leave Kaohsiung, Han has let down the city’s residents.
“Han Kuo-yu might now be thinking about how to achieve the greatest authority, but what he should be focused on is the promises he made to the people of Kaohsiung, and what to tell them,” Chen said.
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