People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) last night conceded defeat in the presidential election, saying that the party respected the decision of voters.
Apart from thanking the party’s candidates, staff and supporters, Soong warned that the nation’s future leader would soon face many challenges.
“The nation will face a major change in the global political situation this year,” Soong said.
Photo: CNA
“If cross-strait relations remain unstable and Taiwan takes the wrong side in dealings with Japan, the US and China, all these factors will affect Taiwan,” he said.
“This government should stop pitting one party against another, stop destroying the civil service by offering lucrative jobs only to those who agree with it and stop using drastic measures to carry out social reforms,” he added.
Asked if he would run for president again in 2024, Soong said that the question is whether the nation will survive the next four years, given the trials it will face.
Securities analyst Wu Kuan-lung (吳官隆), a supporter of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), watched the election results at the PFP’s campaign headquarters.
The loss by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, proved that Han should not have run for president just a few months after taking office, Wu said, calling that decision Han’s “original sin,” for which he has no excuse.
Although they secured some legislator-at-large seats, the PFP and the Taiwan People’s Party lost their legislative elections, meaning there would be no “third force” party in the Legislative Yuan large enough to serve as a counterweight to either the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or the KMT, Wu said.
PFP legislator-at-large nominee Amanda Liu (劉宥彤), a former aide to Gou, said that these elections were not won by the DPP, but rather lost by the KMT.
Not many party votes go to third parties when the competition between the DPP and KMT is intense, she said.
PFP spokeswoman Belle Yu (于美人) said that the party fought the good fight, but added that voters made the final decision.
“What the PFP cares about is not the victories of political parties, but rather what people have gained through the process,” Yu said.
“What consensus have people reached through the elections? Do we now have a common goal for the future?” she said. “This is what we care about.”
As her role as spokesperson ended yesterday, Yu said that she was honored to be part of a historic moment working for Soong’s presidential campaign, his “last battle.”
“We will miss Chairman Soong. We thank him for his contribution to Taiwan’s democracy and for giving 44 years of his life to the nation,” Yu said.
Prior to last night’s election, Soong had also been the PFP’s presidential candidate in the 2012 and 2016 elections, losing by a significant margin.
In 2012, Soong secured only 2.77 percent of overall votes.
In 2016, Soong and his running mate, former Republican Party chairwoman Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), garnered 1,576,861 votes, or 12.83 percent of total ballots.
Soong first ran for the presidency in 2000 as an independent candidate and narrowly lost to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by 2.46 percentage points.
In 2004, Soong was the running mate of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) in a KMT-PFP alliance. They lost to Chen and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) by 0.2 percentage points.
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