Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), on Saturday night said the “revolution” was just beginning after his party won five at-large seats in Saturday’s legislative elections to become the third-largest party in the Legislative Yuan.
The next critical point would be the 2022 local elections, he said.
The TPP was established by Ko and his aides in August last year, positioning itself as a party that transcends the blue-green divide, while aiming to become a “critical minority party” in the legislature.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Although the party failed to secure regional legislative seats, it received 1,588,806 party votes, or 11.22 percent, to pass the 5 percent threshold for obtaining legislator-at-large seats.
It would also be eligible to receive government subsidies for campaign funding, as it passed the 3 percent vote threshold, and would be eligible to nominate a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Ko told his supporters that by standing together and holding on to their ideals, the TPP’s legislative candidates made a breakthrough in the elections while facing “attacks” from the pan-blue and pan-green camps.
Their efforts would change Taiwan’s political culture, he said.
“The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have taken turns being the ruling party over the past two decades, but the country has come to a standstill and people’s lives have not changed, so society must go beyond the blue-green divide to move forward,” he said. “The TPP is the new choice for the people, aside from blue or green.”
Creating an “inclusive society” and emphasizing “state governance” would be the TPP’s two main principles, Ko added.
Responding to media queries about the DPP obtaining a legislative majority, Ko said that while the TPP would be unable to play the role of “critical minority party” and influence the voting results for bills or policies, it would try to play the role of “demonstrative effect” or “shadow cabinet.”
When unreasonable bills are proposed, TPP legislators would not throw water balloons or file for a constitutional interpretation, but they would clearly explain why the party thinks the policy is wrong, Ko said.
As long as the bills or policies proposed are good for the people, the TPP would not limit itself to a certain ideology, and would cooperate with other parties, he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
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