Former vice premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), who is in charge of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) electoral strategy for her re-election bid, suggested that the party not verbally attack Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the run-up to next year’s presidential election, a source said.
Tsai, who this month won the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential primary, on Friday met with party lawmakers at her residence, where Lin apparently made the remark.
The meeting focused on party unity in the wake of the primary, its relationships with smaller parties and controlling false news reports, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who is contesting the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary, is losing influence, although he still has many fans, so the DPP must remain mindful, the source quoted Lin as saying.
There is uncertainty over whether Ko would run for president, so the party should not verbally attack him or offend his supporters, the source quoted Lin as saying, adding that even if he enters the race, the DPP should still try to draw in his supporters.
Ko — an independent who has said that he would decide in August whether he would run — would greatly affect the DPP’s chances if he were to contest the presidency, Lin was quoted as saying.
Opinion polls conducted by Tsai’s campaign team showed that among the potential presidential candidates, only Tsai can compete with Ko among young voters, other sources said.
Ko’s supporters are mainly aged 20 to 39, but he lacks support among people aged 60 or older, factions in rural areas and organizations, while Han has hardly any support among young people, but has support from elderly people and local factions, the sources said.
Tsai has relatively even support among all age groups, they said, citing opinion polls.
Ko, who was visiting Taitung, yesterday said that no DPP members have discussed with him the possibility of being Tsai’s running mate, but staff members from both sides maintain regular contact.
Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) speaks with DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) from time to time, although their meetings do not have a specific agenda, Ko said.
Asked about Lin’s remark, Ko said he cannot explain other people’s ideas.
Supporters on Facebook for him and Tsai Ing-wen overlapped greatly in 2016, he said.
DPP spokeswoman Lee Yen-jong (李晏榕) said that Cho did not meet frequently with Tsai Pi-ju and the issue of a running mate for Tsai Ing-wen has not been broached between them.
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