National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday beat Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) in a public opinion survey and is widely expected to represent the pan-green camp in the Taipei mayoral election in November if the DPP decides not to nominate its own candidate.
A public poll that matched Ko and Yao against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate and former Taipei EasyCard Corp (悠遊卡公司) chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) was conducted on Thursday night to determine the final pan-green camp candidate.
“Ko and Yao both defeated Lien in the poll, but Ko won by a larger margin,” DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), convener of the DPP’s integration panel, told a press conference yesterday.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The integration panel “will refer the results of the survey to the [DPP’s] Central Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday for a final decision,” he added.
Gao’s comment means that Ko is expected to run in the race as an independent without having to fight for voter support with a DPP nominee unless the DPP decides otherwise.
According to a previous agreement, the details of the poll results would not be announced and the DPP would not comment on any report about the results.
Formosa Television reported that Ko beat Lien 43 percent to 28 percent, while Yao and Lien tied at 33 percent each.
Online news Web site Storm Media reported that Ko led Lien by 15 percentage points, while Yao defeated Lien by 5 points.
Ko, who attended the press conference with Yao and Gao, said he appreciated Yao’s and the DPP’s agreement to an unprecedented “integration” mechanism to finalize a candidate between independents and DPP contenders.
“However, we haven’t arrived at a fairy-tale ending of ‘living happily ever after,’ as tough challenges still lie ahead,” Ko said.
Yao said he was proud to be part of the mechanism, but did not concede defeat. He said he was still hopeful that the party would pick him as its candidate since he is likely to defeat Lien as well.
Both sides have previously agreed that after a poll is held, the DPP would also take the candidates’ policies, values and campaign specifics into consideration in making its final decision.
Ko has also said that if he defeated Yao by less than 3 percentage points, he would drop out of the race and let Yao run in the election.
A senior party official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said that even if Ko emerged as the final candidate, integrating his campaign office with the party’s for its Taipei City council candidates would be a great challenge.
Responding to the survey, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said she does not rule out entering the race.
Lu, one of the DPP contenders in the Taipei mayoral primary, refused to participate in the party’s “integration mechanism” with Ko, saying that the mechanism was “a disgrace to the DPP’s values and character,” as well as a reflection of the party’s defeatism.
Lu will have to withdraw from the DPP to run as an independent. She could face party discipline if she registered as a candidate without securing the party’s nomination.
Meanwhile, former DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) declared his intention to enter the Taipei mayoral race, citing dissatisfaction with Ko and Lien.
The senior politician said he was particularly unhappy with the DPP’s lack of confidence in nominating its own candidate as well as Ko’s overnight popularity as a self-proclaimed “amateur politician.”
Award-winning writer Neil Peng (馮光遠), who did not participate in the DPP’s integration mechanism, is also running as an independent.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS