The opposition’s failure to work together puts the DPP’s William Lai in pole position for the January presidential election.
Taiwan’s opposition parties have registered separate candidates for next year’s presidential elections, hours after an attempt to field a joint slate against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) collapsed in the acrimony on live television.
The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is fielding Hou Yu-ih for president, while Ko Wen-je will run for the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
The KMT chose pro-China media personality Jaw Shaw-kong as Hou’s running mate, while the TPP chose one of its lawmakers, Cynthia Wu.
Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn, announcement in August he would run as an independent, but he is far behind other candidates in opinion polls, and it is unclear whether he will register with the electoral commission before Friday’s 9:30 a.m. deadline GMT.
“The failure of the (KMT-TPP) coalition disappointed 60 percent of the public,” Hou said at a news conference Friday before registering his candidacy.
“I called Ko at the last minute, but he didn’t answer. We waited until the last moment.
The January 13 elections come as Beijing, which considers Taiwan its own territory, steps up its military and political pressure on the self-governing island. The DPP, which affirms that it is up to the people of Taiwan to decide their future, presents as its candidate the current vice-president William Lai, with Hsiao Bi-khim, former Taipei envoy to the United States, as running mate. China has nicknamed them “separatists” and “independence duo”.
Opposition parties, considered more favorable to Beijing, announced last week that they would present a common candidate in a move that would have created a major challenge for Lai, who is far ahead in the polls.
But as they struggle Efforts to reach a deal collapsed spectacularly Thursday night when the KMT walked out of last-ditch talks at a Taipei hotel brokered by Gou and broadcast live on television.
In an event marked by arguments and cross-talk, one of the most dramatic moments came when Hou read a private text message from Ko saying Gou needed to “find a reason” to drop out of the presidential race.
Ko, whose party is smaller, has performed better than expected and has recently been neck and neck with Hou.
The united PDP
Amid opposition unrest, DPP remains united with Lai and Hsiao registration Tuesday and continue their campaign.
Speaking at a rally Thursday evening, Lai scorned the opposition.
“Should we dare to entrust the management of the country to these people? he said. “Of course it’s not good.”
China has long warned that it is prepared to use force to take control of Taiwan, and the KMT has sought to present itself as the party best able to work with China and avoid conflict.
Speaking at a media meeting on Thursday, the DPP’s Hsiao said war was “not an option” and the party was determined to maintain the status quo.
“It is important for the international community… to make it clear to our counterparts across the Taiwan Strait that dialogue is the only way to resolve differences,” she said.
Beijing cut off all high-level contact with the island and intensified its military activities shortly after the first election of President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016.
He kept up the pressure after she was elected in a landslide in the last 2020 elections, and also conducted large-scale military exercises to show his displeasure following high-level visits to the island by politicians such as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Nancy Pelosi or Trips abroad by Tsai and Laï.
