SIMILAR STANCES:The aspirant for the Taipei mayoral election said that he shared a similar set of policies with the DPP candidate, including his position on nuclear power
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), an independent aspirant for the Taipei mayoral election, yesterday said that it would be “win or go home” for him in a primary between Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) contender Pasuya Yao (姚文智) and independents, saying that if he lost in the poll he would withdraw from the race.
Ko made the comment after Yao on Wednesday won the DPP poll, the first part of a two-stage mechanism that the DPP adopted to finalize a pan-green candidate among non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) contenders, setting the stage for the second-phase primary.
According to the mechanism, a public opinion poll is to be held before the middle of next month — likely to be a head-to-head competition between Yao and Ko as the other independent hopeful, award-winning screenwriter Neil Peng (馮光遠), has hinted that he will not participate.
Speaking at a campaign event at Xining Market in Taipei yesterday, Ko acknowledged that his policy positions — including the elimination of Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and his antinuclear stance — were similar to Yao’s.
The National Taiwan University Hospital physician, whose support rate has been leading all non-KMT aspirants, said he would garner more support from voters as an independent, but “it’s win or go home for me. I will not form a political party if I lose [the primary].”
Ko said on Wednesday in a meeting with reporters that he would not stay in the race even if he beat Yao by less than 3 percentage points in the deciding poll, which is to pit Yao and Ko against KMT candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), a former Taipei EasyCard Co chairman.
“I’m saying this because even if a candidate manages to consolidate support from the pan-green camp and the local factions of the KMT, he or she would have at best a 50-50 chance of defeating the KMT,” Ko said.
Ko said he would agree to participate in DPP-organized debates.