It has been a turbulent week for Taiwanese politics. Last-ditch talks between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to form a pan-blue alliance against the DPP broke down in spectacular fashion, with the grand finale at Taipei’s Grand Hyatt Hotel broadcast live on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, Independent candidate Terry Guo’s (郭台銘) Facebook page released a record of Gou’s conversations with TPP’s Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and KMT’s Hou You-ih (侯友宜) on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to the post, Hou asked Gou to help Hou and Ko work together.
The TPP’s Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and the KMT’s Hou You-ih (侯友宜) had made an agreement brokered by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on November 16 to use polls to determine the composition of a joint presidential ticket. That arrangement hit a wall on November 18, with the two sides disagreeing on how to interpret polling data.
Guo, who is also in the pan-blue camp, organized yesterday’s media event at the Grand Hyatt. Ko arrived first for talks with Gou. Hou arrived later with Ma and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫). The two sides were unable to negotiate and said mean things about each other, while Gou kept talking about Thanksgiving. Gou expressed disappointment, saying, “The sun will rise tomorrow, but we had an unfortunate result today.”
The pan-blue alliance officially died today when Ko Wen-je arrived at the Central Election Commission at 11 a.m. today to register for the election, with TPP legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), a member of the wealthy family that owns the Shin Kong Group, named as his vice presidential running mate. Wu’s international and finance experience are seen as beneficial to Ko. Hou You-ih today named pan-blue commentator and political firebrand Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) as his running mate.
Terry Gou released a statement this afternoon declaring his withdrawal from the presidential election. In the statement, Gou expressed his unwavering commitment to Taiwan and a willingness to step aside for the greater good of the Republic of China. He focused on the importance of a change in Taiwan’s leadership and encouraged a fresh start for the benefit of the people.
In response to the failure of the pan-blue alliance, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德) quipped, “They spent the whole day negotiating and achieved no result. Do we dare to let them run this country?’’ Lai on Monday announced that he had chosen Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), as his running mate.
In other election news, the KMT on Wednesday released its at-large legislative list, with former presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) topping the list and labeled as the party’s “super warrior.” The TPP also released its at-large legislative list on Wednesday, with former Taipei deputy mayor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) and former New Power Party (時代力量) legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) leading the party list for 2024.
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