The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nominated New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) as its candidate for next year’s presidential election. Although the decision has been made, the show has not ended. The curtain was brought down and the main actors left the stage, but the supporting actors and those playing smaller roles remain.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) might bring more challenges for the KMT to deal with. As powerful as Gou is in the business world, he was again sent packing after competing against KMT politicians.
Will he be able to let it go? Gou should return to his business and focus on his enterprise. It would be wiser for him to forget about engaging in politics again.
The KMT might ask Gou to spend his money on Hou’s campaign, but this would only reveal the party’s naivete. After all, Gou is not a saint. Likewise, it would be naive to suppose that Gou would be willing to pair with Hou as the KMT’s vice presidential candidate.
As for Hou, who was “passively recruited” as the KMT’s presidential candidate, it should be emphasized that he is the incumbent mayor of New Taipei City. During the local elections last year, he repeatedly said that he would do his job well, but now he has accepted the KMT’s nomination for the presidential election. What Hou is doing is reminiscent of former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) behavior.
Whether Hou resigns or runs the campaign as mayor, there are likely to be serious problems. If the KMT had already decided that Hou would be its presidential candidate, he should not have been nominated for mayor. The party must provide the public with a thorough explanation.
Undeniably, the KMT considers Hou the best candidate for next year’s presidential election because he did quite well in last year’s local elections.
However, those who voted for Hou and supported his re-election, did not consider their vote to be a “buy one, get one free” ballot. A vote for the mayor is not a vote for the president. The KMT has been tricking New Taipei City’s voters.
In short, the KMT burned the bridge after crossing the river. In 2018, Han was elected as mayor of Kaohsiung with 900,000 votes, but during the presidential election, Han received only 610,000 votes in Kaohsiung and was soon ousted in a recall vote.
This shows that running for mayor is completely different from running for president. Will Hou repeat the same mistake, losing not only the presidential election, but also his mayorship?
During the KMT’s recruitment show, Gou worked hard to bring all of his supporters together. He hosted a number of huge campaign activities.
On the other hand, Hou was as cool as a cucumber, simply waiting for the decision to be announced. As it turned out, everything Gou did was in vain.
The KMT’s court culture once again proves that it does not matter if you work hard enough or not. What matters is whether you are one of them.
Chen Wen-ching is an executive director of the Formosa Association of Resource Recycling.
Translated by Emma Liu
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