Ko Wen-je, founding chairman of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), said the problem in this Zhubei case was that no party agreement had been signed in black and white. He spoke in New Taipei on September 19, amid controversy over the collapse of TPP-Kuomintang (KMT) cooperation in the Zhubei mayoral race, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported. Ko was attending an afternoon battle-top tournament hosted by the Little Grass Alliance General Association with TPP council candidate Chen Yi-chun.
What did he say about Zhubei? Without a party agreement signed in black and white, as in Zhubei, things can easily descend into each side telling its own story, Ko told reporters in a joint interview. That, he said, is the problem: those who want to cooperate need to go a step further and understand how to cooperate.
What does he want from future cooperation? Citing how Japanese parties can produce a party agreement within a week, he said Japan has a 30-year habit and culture of coalition government that Taiwanese society should in future study and find ways to learn from. Parties, he said, should cooperate when they can, still compete when competition is needed and still confront when they must, but should not confront each other while cooperating. The key, in his words, is building a culture of division of labor and cooperation.
Has he advocated opposition alliances before? Ko said he had already advocated a grand opposition alliance when he ran for Taipei mayor in 2014, calling it only a concept. Whether opposition parties facing a ruling party should seek to win alone or ally with other parties and win through cooperation has no fixed answer, he said. In his view, division of labor and cooperation, coalition government and an inclusive society should be things only relatively civilized societies can achieve. Citing surgery, he said no operation can have a zero death rate but complications can be reduced, so improving each time a problem arises makes the system steadily better.
Will he campaign in New Taipei? Asked about TPP-KMT cooperation in New Taipei's mayoral and council elections, including whether he would share a stage with KMT New Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Szu-chuan or Mayor Hou Yu-ih, who chairs Lee's campaign, Ko said the area he had been assigned to campaign in lay outside Taipei and New Taipei, CNA reported. He would have few occasions to be active in New Taipei, he said, calling the day's event one of very few exceptions.
Figures referenced: Ko Wen-je. — JudgeMarket.
