President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that it would have negative consequences for former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) medical parole if she were to respond to his claim that she has cut a deal with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to renew the Democratic Progressive Party’s endorsement for the Nov. 24 Taipei mayoral election.
In “The New Saga of Yung the Brave” (新勇哥物語), a Line chat group Chen has set up, he said that Ko and Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳珮琪), have met with Tsai at the presidential residence.
There are no rules requiring a primary for the Taipei mayoral race and the DPP candidate is directly nominated by the party’s chairperson, Tsai, Chen Shui-bian said in the group, which he named after a dog he kept when he was president.
At the meeting, Tsai told Ko she had decided that the DPP would team up with him for the election, as it did in 2014, Chen Shui-bian said, adding that Tsai’s previous remark that “if [the DPP] loses the election, it could end up finishing third” was meant as a smokescreen for her plan.
The source of the rumor is likely Chen Shui-bian’s conversation with friends on social media and people should not to blow it out of proportion, Tsai said yesterday, as she continued her visit to Hualien County to promote tourism there in the aftermath of the Feb. 6 magnitude 6.0 earthquake.
It would be inappropriate for her to respond to the rumor in her capacity of president, as it would “politicize the issue” and “have consequences for former president Chen [Shui-bian’s] medical parole,” Tsai said.
Asked to confirm whether the DPP’s private opinion polls on the Taipei mayoral election included Premier William Lai (賴清德) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) as potential candidates, Tsai said such rumors are not entirely accurate.
The DPP will disclose its plans for the Taipei mayoral election once its Electoral Strategy Committee has completed an analysis of the different scenarios, finished discussions with “other political parties” and issued a formal recommendation to party headquarters, she said
Ko yesterday told media that “it was Yung the Brave who made the disclosure,” rather than Chen Shui-bian.
“Why are you asking me? You should be asking Yung the Brave,” he said.
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