Pairing Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) to form a presidential ticket, and having New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as the premier could facilitate a “blue-white” alliance, Broadcasting Corp of China Chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said yesterday.
Ko, Gou and Hou are the three main opposition presidential candidates. Blue is the KMT’s party color, while white refers to the TPP.
Gou, an independent candidate, could consider running as a KMT member, Jaw said, urging the three to consider the greater good that would come out of such a political partnership.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
Abandoning a potential blue-white alliance should be a last-minute option, and both sides should take a step back to prevent further conflict between the two parties, he said.
If the TPP and the KMT cannot work together, neither side would win the election, and if the conflict continues, their worsening opinion of the other could torpedo even the prospect of a Ko-Gou pairing, he said.
It would be dangerous for the KMT to even consider pursuing a KMT-TPP partnership without Hou in the picture, Jaw said, adding that Hou enjoys a support rating of at least 15 percent.
The 2000 presidential election demonstrated the risk of doing so. The main contenders at the time were Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lien Chan (連戰) of the KMT and James Soong (宋楚瑜), who quit the KMT to run as an independent.
The split of the KMT base between Lien and Soong — with the former garnering 2.92 million votes and the latter receiving 4.66 million — was believed to be the main reason behind the KMT’s loss.
Saying that Ko is incapable of forming a Cabinet by himself, Jaw scoffed at the former Taipei mayor’s statement that he might form a coalition government with the DPP.
“If he did, people need not vote for him; they can just vote for the DPP,” Jaw said.
Separately, New Party legislative candidates You Chih-pin (游智彬), Wang Wan-pang (王萬邦) and Mikakag Lifuk yesterday urged the public to cast invalid ballots if the TPP and the KMT cannot form an alliance.
Both parties are overly concerned with political machinations and have overlooked the public’s desire to vote the DPP out of government, they said.
The two parties have failed to put the nation’s interests first and foremost, they added.
Asked about the possibility of adding Kuo to the KMT’s proposed open primary between Hou and Ko to decide the best candidate for the blue-white alliance, Hou’s campaign office spokesman Huang Tzu-che (黃子哲) said: “There is no such plan at this time,” as it is an alliance between the KMT and the TPP.
Huang urged Ko’s campaign team to give a positive response to the KMT’s proposal, or it would mainly be the TPP’s fault if an alliance cannot be formed.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS