Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is scheduled to visit the US next month and meet with officials in Washington in his capacity as the party’s official presidential candidate, a TPP spokesman said on Saturday.
Ko plans to represent the TPP in the presidential election next year once the party completes its nomination process, but the timetable has not yet been set, TPP spokesman Chou Tai-chu (周台竹) said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been informed of the visit and Ko’s plans to introduce himself as a presidential contender, he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The former Taipei mayor has said on numerous occasions that he plans to run for president.
The Central Election Commission said it would announce on Friday the date for next year’s presidential and legislative elections.
Ko is scheduled to make stops in New York, Boston, Washington and Houston, and visit the US Department of State, an academic institution and biomedical companies, Chou said.
Ko expects to meet with members of the US Congress, he added.
The TPP recently in an online video rejected calls for Ko to be the vice presidential candidate under Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), who last month said he would vie to be a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate.
The party does not plan to run a full slate of legislative candidates next year so it can focus resources in areas where the TPP has the most potential, Chou said.
The TPP spread itself too thin in last year’s local elections, putting undue strain on limited campaign resources, resulting in poor outcomes, he said.
The party plans to have its five incumbent legislators-at-large seek re-election through electoral campaigning rather than expect seats assigned based on the TPP’s proportion of the vote, he said.
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