TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During three hours of talks on Saturday (Oct. 14), delegations from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) agreed to hold three debates to determine which candidate should lead a joint ticket in next January’s presidential election, but the parties differed on how to conduct opinion polling.

As Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chair Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has maintained a lead in most surveys, his opponents called on “blue” KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) and “white” candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to join forces.

The two contenders were not present for Saturday’s talks, but each party sent two top campaign officials. King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) and Secretary General Justin Huang (黃健庭) for the KMT talked for a longer-than-expected three hour meeting with Ko’s campaign chief Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) and campaign office chair Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修), per CNA.

At a news conference, the campaigns said they had agreed to hold three debates followed by opinion polls to determine who will head a joint presidential ticket in the Jan. 13, 2024 elections. A date for the next round of talks will be announced around noon on Sunday (Oct. 15), they said.

However, there were still disagreements over methods for the opinion polls, UDN reported. While the TPP wanted phone surveys by five companies with the whole process to be completed by Oct. 31, the KMT proposed “democratic primaries” at polling booths across the country with real-name registration by voters. Hou’s side also suggested Nov. 5-10 as a preferred window to complete the polling process.

The suggestion for the debates and opinion polls came from Ko's camp, while the TPP also called on the KMT not to delay the cooperation process.