TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu expressed Friday (Nov. 24) that he and Hou Yu-ih, the KMT's presidential candidate, felt humiliated by the lack of genuine cooperation with the Taiwan People's Party (TPP).
During a central party meeting, Chu called for full mobilization in support of Hou until the end.
Due to failed negotiations of an alliance with the TPP, Hou Yu-ih and his vice-presidential running mate, Jaw Shaw-kong, went ahead and registered as candidates with the Central Election Commission on Friday morning.
Jaw had advised Hou to call TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je at the last minute in the morning, hoping for a chance at collaboration before Ko's own registration, but Ko did not answer the call.
Ko later apologized for the previous night's public meeting, which he criticized as farcical, and expressed his efforts to bridge cooperation between the KMT and TPP factions, but pointed to political philosophy differences.
Ko disapproved of the KMT's confrontational stance during talks, suggesting it wasn't conducive to healthy cooperation.
Hou reported that the KMT approached the TPP with sincerity, recalling an incident where former President Ma Ying-jeou was made to wait five hours, branding this attitude toward the former head of Taiwan as highly disrespectful.
Despite facing challenges, Hou shared that he and his party members maintained strong conviction and the utmost sincerity regarding cooperation with Ko Wen-je, but regretted that a partnership could not be realized.
Commenting on the failed KMT-TPP collaboration, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te suggested the breakdown indicated that the alliance was not in the interests of the nation and its people, but rather about partisan and power-sharing concerns.
