By Shih Hsiao-kuang, Lin Che-yuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Pairing Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) to form a presidential ticket, and having New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as the premier could facilitate a “blue-white” alliance, Broadcasting Corp of China Chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said yesterday.
Ko, Gou and Hou are the three main opposition presidential candidates. Blue is the KMT’s party color, while white refers to the TPP.
Gou, an independent candidate, could consider running as a KMT member, Jaw said, urging the three to consider the greater good that would come out of such a political partnership.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
Abandoning a potential blue-white alliance should be a last-minute option, and both sides should take a step back to prevent further conflict between the two parties, he said.
If the TPP and the KMT cannot work together, neither side would win the election, and if the conflict continues, their worsening opinion of the other could torpedo even the prospect of a Ko-Gou pairing, he said.
It would be dangerous for the KMT to even consider pursuing a KMT-TPP partnership without Hou in the picture, Jaw said, adding that Hou enjoys a support rating of at least 15 percent.
The 2000 presidential election demonstrated the risk of doing so. The main contenders at the time were Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lien Chan (連戰) of the KMT and James Soong (宋楚瑜), who quit the KMT to run as an independent.
The split of the KMT base between Lien and Soong — with the former garnering 2.92 million votes and the latter receiving 4.66 million — was believed to be the main reason behind the KMT’s loss.
Saying that Ko is incapable of forming a Cabinet by himself, Jaw scoffed at the former Taipei mayor’s statement that he might form a coalition government with the DPP.
“If he did, people need not vote for him; they can just vote for the DPP,” Jaw said.
Separately, New Party legislative candidates You Chih-pin (游智彬), Wang Wan-pang (王萬邦) and Mikakag Lifuk yesterday urged the public to cast invalid ballots if the TPP and the KMT cannot form an alliance.
Both parties are overly concerned with political machinations and have overlooked the public’s desire to vote the DPP out of government, they said.
The two parties have failed to put the nation’s interests first and foremost, they added.
Asked about the possibility of adding Kuo to the KMT’s proposed open primary between Hou and Ko to decide the best candidate for the blue-white alliance, Hou’s campaign office spokesman Huang Tzu-che (黃子哲) said: “There is no such plan at this time,” as it is an alliance between the KMT and the TPP.
Huang urged Ko’s campaign team to give a positive response to the KMT’s proposal, or it would mainly be the TPP’s fault if an alliance cannot be formed.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
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