TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Taipei City Branch Chair Tai Hsi-chin (戴錫欽) said Wednesday that he is considering resigning from his post because he believes he has failed to meet the expectations of fellow party members.
Storm Media reported Wednesday that Tai is facing an uphill battle in his bid to retain his position as Taipei City Council speaker. The DPP has proposed a vote-allocation strategy across Taipei, while KMT councilors are reportedly dissatisfied with Tai’s response and his plans for how the opposition coalition would operate after the election.
Tai said election arrangements, including opposition cooperation and the campaign schedule for Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), had been sufficiently discussed with party members, per UDN. However, he said he was considering resigning because he believed his performance no longer satisfied party members.
Tai said the party branch would invite all candidates to discuss election strategies, including vote allocation, to maximize the KMT’s seats on the city council, per China Times.
In a Thursday interview, Tai said Chiang’s efforts to help TPP city council candidates could cost the KMT council seats, per Liberty Times. He said that because the framework for the opposition coalition had already been established, he could not, as branch chair, ask for Taipei to be excluded from it.
Responding to reports that he could form an alliance with TPP councilors to retain his speakership, Tai said his priority remained maintaining the KMT’s majority on the council. TPP Taipei City Councilor Chen You-cheng (陳宥丞), who has been rumored to be Tai’s potential partner in the speaker election, said he did not know where the rumors came from, per TVBS.
Chen said the TPP would seek to maximize its gains in the local elections in preparation for a potential return to a governing role in 2028. Asked about Tai’s potential resignation, Chiang said he believed the Taipei City KMT branch had plans in place to deal with the possibility, per CNA.
