Taiwan: Opposition parties aiming to form alliance for January polls

Ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections in January, Taiwan’s major opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), announced on Monday that it was discussing methods to work with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), another opposition group. The election is taking place while China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has increased military and political pressure in an effort to bolster its claims to sovereignty. The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) vice president and presidential candidate William Lai has nearly always been in the lead in surveys, leaving former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je of the TPP and KMT to compete for second place. However, they have been unable to come to an agreement on how to do so, including whether Hou or Ko should resign as their party’s respective presidential candidate. The KMT, which has historically supported close connections with China, and the TPP have both broached the notion of working together to overthrow the DPP. The campaign team for Hou stated that it has chosen to hold “preliminary consultations” with the TPP along with the KMT’s central office and urged both parties to “sit down together as soon as possible.” “As long as it is an issue of mutual concern, it can be discussed without preconditions,” the statement added. Ko suggested that both parties conduct polls to choose who should run for president and who should run for vice president on a potential united ticket, but the KMT was not a fan of that suggestion. In comparison to the TPP’s five seats in parliament, the KMT holds 38 of Taiwan’s 113 seats in the opposition. The KMT also holds 14 of Taiwan’s 22 county chief and city mayor positions, compared to the TPP’s two. The retired billionaire founder of key Apple supplier Foxconn (2317.TW), Terry Gou, is also vying for president as an independent, but he is trailing in the polls. Along with the DPP, he has offered an opposition alliance, but neither the KMT, whose presidential nomination he attempted, has accepted. (With agency inputs)