Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) “still have a good relationship” after a report that Soong would not cooperate with him in next year’s presidential and legislative elections due to concerns over his personal integrity.
After Ko did not register to become an independent presidential candidate before the deadline on Sept. 17, there has been speculation that Ko would ask Soong and the PFP to nominate him.
Soong has yet to meet with Ko, despite Ko saying last month that he wants to meet Soong in person.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
An anonymous source close to the PFP said that the party had been leaning toward cooperating with Ko in May last year, so Ko and Soong met at the party’s offices to discuss how to form a coalition with third-force parties to win more legislative seats, a report in the Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine said yesterday.
Ko’s decision to form the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in late July without informing Soong in advance, as well as using the PFP to assist with his visits to central and southern Taiwan, made Soong realize that he “might have been fooled by Ko,” the source was reported as saying.
Ko last week asked PFP Taipei City Councilor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) to become one of his deputy mayors, again without consulting with Soong in advance, as well as privately asking PFP members to run for the TPP, had left Soong concerned about Ko’s personal integrity, the source said.
PFP Secretary-General and legislative caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) told a news conference on Sunday that the party respected Huang’s decision, but that Ko should have informed the PFP first, and that integrity and mutual trust are important.
Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如), Ko’s close aide and one of the TPP’s founders, said in a radio interview on Monday that the TPP’s actions were “certainly audacious” and apologized for not having spoken with Soong, but that she believed Soong would forgive the party.
Ko yesterday said that the Taipei City Government is too open and transparent, with too much information being exposed before official announcements and that he has often been forced to quickly respond to media inquiries about leaks.
Asked if it is possible that Soong would decide to run for president, Ko said anything is possible and he cannot decide what other people can or cannot do.
“Soong and I still have a good relationship,” Ko said, adding that he is not in a rush to meet Soong and he would wait for whatever time is convenient for the PFP chairman.
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