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Opposition struggles to agree on joint presidential candidate before deadline

ROC Central News Agency

11/23/2023 06:00 PM

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) As Taiwan's two opposition candidates remain deadlocked over who should lead their joint ticket to challenge the ruling party, with only one day to go before the presidential election registration deadline, the tension is mounting.

The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, and the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP) have been in talks for months to determine whether the KMT's Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) or TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) should top the ticket.

The TPP and the KMT began discussing a possible electoral pact in August.

Polls suggested that this approach was the opposition's best chance to oust the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after eight years in office.

However, relations between the two opposition parties were strained from the start. In September, Ko expressed frustration at the KMT's apparent unwillingness to consider ceding the top position on a joint opposition ticket.

The two parties held closed-door meetings throughout October, and on Nov. 15, the TPP and KMT agreed to use public polling results to select a presidential candidate.

However, spats over how to interpret the polling data saw the deal collapse just three days later, with both sides pointing the finger at each other.

On Thursday afternoon, the two presidential hopefuls, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), the KMT's former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the independent presidential aspirant Terry Gou (郭台銘) gathered at the Grand Hyatt Taipei hotel for a last-minute discussion. As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the talks are still ongoing.

Ma and Gou have been engaged in discussions regarding potential KMT-TPP cooperation in recent weeks.

The opposition candidates will face off in the Jan. 13, 2024 election against Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the ruling DPP, who polls suggest would be the victor in a three-way race.

(By Chung Yu-chen)

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