Former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must have been under party pressure in a call for his supporters to not vote for Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Ko said yesterday, adding that was not what Han had told him in private.
On Saturday evening at a KMT campaign event in Taoyuan, Han, who was on stage stumping for KMT presidential candidate New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), told supporters that it is not about whether Ko is a suitable candidate, but whether he would win the election.
Using a metaphor, Han said if someone poured a bottle of water on Hou, he would come alive and win the election, but even if people were to pour buckets and buckets of water on Ko, he would still lose, so Han asked voters to cast their ballots for Hou and not Ko.
Photo: CNA
“Ko Wen-je’s election campaign is like an air gun shot, making a loud noise, but he will not win. So dear Ko supporters, please switch your votes” [to the KMT], Han said.
Han was general manager of the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co between 2013 and 2017, and Ko was elected mayor of Taipei in 2014, and the two have known each other since.
In response to Han’s remark, Ko yesterday said that Han is a KMT party member and also at the top of its legislator-at-large candidate list.
As such, Ko said Han has to cooperate with his party in manipulating the “dump-save” strategy — instructing supporters not to vote for a candidate who is less likely to be elected and to vote instead for another candidate who might have a higher chance of getting elected.
“It is completely different than what he [Han] told me in private,” Ko said, adding that people subconsciously reveal their real thoughts in their speech, so when Han said it is not an issue of whether Ko is suitable for the presidency, what Han really means is that Ko is better than Hou.
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