Newly re-elected Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Saturday said that his upcoming departure from the Taipei mayoral office would allow the TPP to fully focus on cultivating talent ahead of the 2024 elections.
Hours after his re-election, Ko wrote on social media that his top priority during his second term as TPP chairman would be improving the party’s organizational structure.
This would include implementing an open and fair selection, promotion and assessment system for leadership and grassroots positions, Ko said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Splitting his time between the TPP and his duties as mayor in the three years since the party’s founding had led to internal disputes, Ko said, vowing to devote himself to the development of the party.
Ko lauded the TPP’s strong showing in the local elections last month, in which the party’s candidates won the mayoral vote in Hsinchu, as well as 14 city and county councilor races.
Adressing TPP members, Ko said that as a minor political party, the TPP must position itself to “serve the people” by being innovative, serious and responsible.
Observers have said that while the TPP would seek to win additional legislative seats in 2024, its main objective would be winning the presidential election, with Ko being its likely candidate.
Among those who were on Saturday elected to leadership positions within the party were Taipei Department of Information and Tourism Commissioner Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆); Ko’s sister, Ko Mei-lan (柯美蘭); former TPP spokesman Jimmy Chang (張清俊); and Shih Shu-ting (施淑婷), a candidate of the party for Hsinchu City councilor in last month’s elections.
Ko Wen-je’s first challenge after he starts his second term on Jan. 1 would be to help the TPP regroup and identify strong candidates for legislative elections, party sources said.
With Ko Wen-je expected to gain total control over the TPP’s Central Committee, the candidates fielded by the party could “make or break” Ko Wen-je, who would have to shoulder the ultimate responsibility if the party underperforms in the 2024 elections, they said.
While the pan-green and pan-blue camps believe that Ko Wen-je is likely to run for president, they believe that he is unlikely to win, the sources said.
Ko Wen-je should seek to create a “third force” by teaming up with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) or former New Power Party lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), they said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to