News
Opposition meeting fails to reach consensus
Taiwan People's Party (TPP) spokeswoman Christina Yang says no agreement with the KMT as to how a possible joint presidential candidate will be selected has been reached.
The statement comes after KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih and Chairman Eric Chu met with TPP chair and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je in Taipei and failed to reach any agreement on the issue.
The KMT is proposing conducting an open primary, while the TPP is seeking to conduct national polls to ascertain how the two parties could field a joint presidential ticket. According to Yang, the ongoing stalemate centres on the problem that "Hou is against conducting polls, but Ko has made it clear that it is too late to hold an open primary."
According to the TPP spokeswoman, Ko remains optimistic that the KMT chairman will come up with a new plan. However, she's also warning that if Chu fails to make a new proposal, any future meetings on the issue "may be rendered unnecessary."
In other election news, Terry Gou and his running mate Tammy Lai have submitted petition signatures collected to qualify as candidates in the presidential election to the Taipei City Election Commission.
Speaking to reporters after delivering the signature sheets, Gou described it as being a "very important day" as the submitting of signatures to make it onto the ballot "conveys the aspirations of the Taiwanese people in pursuing democracy and freedom."
Gou didn't release any information concerning the number of signatures filed or whether it's enough to become an eligible candidate but his campaign office says the number of signatures submitted has passed the threshold and were delivered to the election authorities in batches.
Gou is required to collect 289,667 signatures to make it onto the ballot for the presidential election. However, his petition drive has been plagued by accusations of irregularities at numerous signature stations. A total of 16 people, some with links to organized crime gangs, have been detained by investigators looking into claims of signature buying.
