TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), a leading figure in Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement, submitted a letter of resignation to the New Power Party (NPP) on Thursday (Nov. 16) amid speculation that he plans to join Ko Wen-je’s Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
The NPP, a party that Huang co-founded, issued a press release on Thursday evening and said it had received the letter of resignation. A press conference has been scheduled for late Friday afternoon to provide more details on the matter, per CNA.
CNA also reported that it is expected Huang will be included on the TPP's party list when it is announced. Six political parties have already announced their list of candidates, including the NPP, who did not name Huang.
As rumors of Huang’s resignation grew on Thursday, Democratic Progressive Party Spokesperson Michelle Lin (林楚茵) questioned whether or not he intended to support the Kuomintang (KMT), per LTN. The KMT agreed on a formal plan for cooperation with the TPP in the 2024 presidential election on Wednesday.
Lin highlighted that during the Sunflower movement, Huang issued harsh criticisms of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who brokered the KMT-TPP deal, and the KMT itself. Huang responded to Lin on Facebook and quipped that he did not expect the DPP to pay him so much attention.
“I was flattered by the DPP’s Central Committee for issuing four press releases (about me) in a week,” he said. Huang also said he wants a public discussion with DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德) about whether or not the latter’s party should continue what he called a "complete reign" over Taiwan’s government.
