Having three political parties in the legislature with each controlling less than half of the seats would be an important turning point for Taiwan’s politics, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
Ko, the chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), made the remark on the sidelines of a campaign event for a TPP legislative candidate when asked about Hon Hai Precision Industry founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) comments about his ideal number of parties in the legislature.
Gou on Saturday said that having two major and two minor parties in the legislature would be ideal, as it would give people more options, as opposed to having one dominant party or two balancing parties.
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
If there are two major parties and one minor party, the latter might become arrogant, he added.
Gou’s aides have been included in the TPP’s and People First Party’s (PFP) legislator-at-large nominee lists, and they are among the TPP’s legislative candidates for the Jan. 11 elections.
Ko said that Gou simultaneously supports the TPP and PFP, and probably supports some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, so he would want to expand his influence as far as possible.
However, in the single-district, two-votes system, it is difficult for “third force” parties to gain influence, Ko said.
Over the past two decades, the New Party, the PFP, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the New Power Party have gained popularity, but then declined, he said.
“If third-force parties become ‘small pan-blue or pan-green parties,’ they would be repeating the failed experiences and will likely not succeed,” Ko said.
That is why the TPP emphasizes “national governance” and does not want to take part in the conflict between the pro-independence and pro-unification camps, he said.
Having three parties with each controlling less than half of the legislative seats would be a chance for Taiwan to “reboot,” Ko said.
Ko also talked about TPP legislator-at-large nominee Ann Kao (高虹安), who is the vice president of the Hon Hai Technology Group Industrial Big Data Office and considered to be among the so-called “Gou’s army.”
Gou had recommended a list of seven people and Kao was chosen as the most suitable nominee through internal party discussions, Ko said.
Ko said that the TPP’s candidates come from different fields, so he does not view Kao as being in Gou’s army, but as someone Gou had recommended.
He believes that “if everyone does what they should do to the utmost, the combined result would be the maximum benefit of Taiwanese society,” Ko said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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