National Taiwan University physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday that he would make a final decision on whether to join the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by March.
Ko, an independent who has a better support rating than the four DPP aspirants in the Taipei mayoral election, refuted a media report that he would join the DPP by the end of the year, saying that the decision would come likely sometime in March.
“I wanted to make the decision in June [next year], but had to advance it to March because the DPP chairmanship election is in May,” said Ko, adding that he would not rush his decision since the election is still a year away.
The self-proclaimed “amateur politician” seemed to be still struggling with the idea of joining the DPP, a move he said would make the election another showdown between the pan-blue and the pan-green camps. He said that the majority of his supporters and aides would like to see him run as an independent.
“I really don’t think that I should rush the decision, as the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] hasn’t nominated its candidate. With the election 12 months away, I believe we’ll be seeing a lot of changes and challenges. So why hurry?” he said.
While Ko enjoys a comfortable advantage over the other DPP aspirants, among them former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), he was put in a difficult situation after the DPP pledged to nominate its own candidate in the Taipei election.
If Ko decides to remain an independent, the election would likely be a three-way race, which is likely to heavily favor the KMT and would almost guarantee a loss for the pan-green camp.
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