Focusing on polling disputes between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) is not conducive toward collaboration, the campaign office manager of the TPP’s presidential candidate, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), said yesterday.
Vivian Huang’s (黃珊珊) comments came after New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, on Tuesday called for both sides to return to the table for further talks about forming a joint ticket for the election on Jan. 13.
Hou had suggested that the parties each pick two experts to re-evaluate the polling results to determine who was favored to lead the ticket, and that they livestream the experts’ discussions for transparency.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Hou said that if the new results showed that he had lost the popularity polls, he would be willing to run as Ko’s running mate.
The parties had agreed to determine the presidential candidate and running mate through the polls, but discussions fell through on Saturday over disagreements on the results and methodology.
The KMT proposed an analysis of nine polls, but later agreed to take out three that favored a Hou-led pairing after the TPP rejected polls conducted solely over landlines.
Huang yesterday said that experts had already convened last week and concluded that the methodology behind the polls was sound, and that the same analysis would yield only one of the same results.
She said that the exclusion of the three polls was a science-based decision.
If “we have to recalculate everything from scratch, which means starting over ... then we do not know why we spent five-and-a-half hours on Friday” examining the poll results, Huang said.
Revisiting the polls would only magnify the parties’ inability to work together in front of the media and would not help further collaborations, she said.
The TPP seeks to present the strongest opposition candidate to voters, she added.
Even if the parties were to agree on a method, they must ensure that their choice aligns with what the electorate wants, she said.
It would be problematic if a joint ticket helps Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, win, she said.
Huang went to the Central Election Commission office in Taipei at 4pm to pick up presidential candidate registration forms on behalf of Ko.
The TPP previously said it planned to pick up the forms today and register today or tomorrow.
Hou yesterday urged Ko to “think things over,” adding that there were still 48 hours for the former Taipei mayor to change his mind about a joint ticket.
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