New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday said he would reject any offer to top the list of legislative-at-large candidates for the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in the Jan. 11 elections.
His remark was in response to a livestreamed Apple Daily interview given earlier in the day by Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如), who said that she would recommend to the TPP’s nominating committee that Huang be the first candidate on the party’s list.
Tsai is a close aide of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), founder and chairman of the TPP.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
It would be “rather dangerous” if Huang were only fourth or fifth on the list, said Tsai, one of the party’s founding members.
Rumors have been circulating that Tsai would be selected as the top at-large candidate.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Snails Without Shells movement in Taipei, Tsai said in the interview, adding that Huang’s housing justice proposals are similar to the TPP’s.
Huang had invited Ko to cheer on participants of a “sleep out” hosted by the Housing Justice Reform Alliance on Taipei’s Zhongxiao E Road Sec 4 from Monday until tomorrow to “recreate the spirit” of the 1989 movement, she said.
Tsai said that she and Ko visited the event on Tuesday night.
Asked later in the day by reporters about the proposal, Huang thanked Tsai for her high opinion of him.
Huang said that he is a member of the NPP and his most important task at the moment is to help the party win votes in next year’s elections.
If invited to take the top slot in the TPP’s at-large list, he would decline, Huang added.
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