Voters will make their own decisions in Jan. 11’s legislative elections, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday after Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislator-at-large nominee Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) predicted that Huang would not secure a legislator-at-large seat.
Tsai, a close aide of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) — who is TPP chairman — told a radio show that the NPP would be unable to garner enough votes to get Huang an at-large seat because its support in polls is only about 5 percent.
Even if the NPP receives a little more than 5 percent of the party votes, it would only secure two at-large seats, Tsai said, adding that Huang is fourth on the party’s nominee list.
“It would be better for people not to waste their vote,” Tsai said.
“Their goals can be achieved through the TPP,” she said.
Tsai said that she respects Huang and that the TPP had wanted to place him first on its at-large list.
Huang said that he respects Tsai’s opinion, but it is up to voters.
“It is a democratic system — voters will make their own decisions,” Huang said, adding that he would increase public support for the NPP through hard work and concrete policy goals.
“For the legislative elections, the NPP has explained its goals and policy plans in a responsible manner,” including plans to promote judicial reform and social justice, he said.
Later yesterday, Ko told reporters that Tsai’s remarks were “too aggressive and unnecessary.”
From a friend’s perspective, Huang should be first on the NPP’s list, Ko said.
He understands that Huang’s position on the list is NPP strategy to attract more votes, but “the risks are too high,” Ko said.
Separately, NPP Secretary-General Wu Pei-yun (吳佩芸) said that political parties should earn public support with hard work “instead of giving arrogant instructions to people on how to vote.”
The NPP would continue to work on improving its policy plans and keeping the ruling party in check, Wu said, adding that parties should do the same to create better platforms to discuss.
Additional reporting by CNA
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