TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Taipei City Branch Chair Tai Hsi-chin (戴錫欽) on Friday defended the KMT’s decision to use vote allocation and limit Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to joint campaign events with TPP candidates, saying individual parties must seek to maximize their number of seats.
In an interview Thursday, Tai said the KMT’s goal in the election remains winning a majority in the Taipei City Council, per Liberty Times. He noted that the KMT would, for the first time, use vote allocation across all electoral districts in Taipei.
Tai said that because the KMT and TPP share some supporters, stronger TPP performance in certain electoral districts could cost the KMT seats. As a result, Chiang would not campaign for individual TPP candidates and would instead be limited to joint KMT-TPP campaign events.
Tai also said joint campaign events should preferably be kept to a minimum and held as far from election day as possible.
The TPP Taipei City Branch responded by calling on its supporters to vote exclusively for TPP candidates, per Mirror Media. A TPP Taipei City Council candidate told Mirror Media that although some TPP supporters currently support the KMT because of their opposition to President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the KMT’s unfriendly attitude toward the TPP could cause it to lose support.
TPP Hsinchu County Council candidate Yu Ya-ting (游雅婷) also criticized Tai, saying opposition cooperation has historically benefited the KMT disproportionately, per ETtoday. She previously said that if cooperation results in one side receiving all the benefits, it is more akin to annexation.
TPP Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the TPP should not dwell on the KMT’s tactics in Taipei’s local elections, as the KMT has its own calculations to make, per Z.Media. He stressed that by pooling votes behind six candidates, the TPP believes it can increase its presence in the Taipei City Council.
Chiang said the KMT’s plan was aimed at maximizing the opposition’s presence in the Taipei City Council, per Liberty Times.
Responding to the criticism, Tai said the vote allocation system was necessary because the KMT nominated more candidates than the TPP, per UDN. He said the arrangement regarding Chiang was made after receiving feedback from KMT city council candidates.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) previously commented on the prospects for opposition cooperation in Taipei’s local elections, per Liberty Times. In an interview, she echoed Tai’s concerns, saying KMT supporters are more likely to support TPP candidates than TPP supporters are to support KMT candidates.
When asked whether Chiang’s refusal to campaign for individual TPP candidates would mean TPP supporters were free to withhold their support, Chin said TPP voters could vote for DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) if they wished, per Storm Media. She stressed that how KMT municipal leaders support TPP candidates should depend on local circumstances.
