After plans for a cross-party joint ticket for the 2024 presidential election fell apart, candidates from the KMT and TPP have introduced and officially registered their new running mates.

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Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) has announced his vice presidential running mate will be Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康). During a press conference, they exchanged pats on the back and handshakes. The two will be close allies over the next 50 days of campaigning. The choice represents a political comeback for Jaw. who left politics nearly 30 years ago before becoming a media personality. 

Jaw was a KMT legislator in the 80s and 90s and also headed the former Environmental Protection Administration. When Jaw entered politics, Hou was still a police officer. In 1993, Jaw co-founded the New Party, a Chinese nationalist pro-unification party, which today has a very small membership. Jaw went on to have a successful media career, as he is the founder of UFO Radio and owner of the Broadcasting Corporation of China. Jaw’s KMT membership was reinstated in 2021.

According to media reports, Hou You-yi had tried to contact Ko Wen-je on Friday morning for last-minute discussions to form a joint ticket but received no response. Following the announcement of Jaw as Hou’s running mate, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) issued a party-wide mobilization order, urging unity and full-party support for the Hou-Jaw ticket.

Meanwhile, Taiwan People Party's (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced his running mate is TPP’s Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈). They both registered for the election at the Central Election Commission on Friday. 

Ko Wen-je states that Cynthia Wu is passionate about public affairs and that he believes they will address and solve issues rationally and pragmatically. 

Ko says he chose Wu based on her expertise in finance and international relations. Wu studied in both the U.S. and the U.K., and her professional experience includes serving as an assistant to a British MP and as the vice president of Shin Kong Life Insurance. She is the daughter of the former head of Shin Kong Group, Eugene Wu (吳東進), and was appointed as a legislator for the TPP in 2022. 

The formal registration of Ko and Wu brings to an end the months-long effort to create a joint KMT-TPP ticket and to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has been in power for nearly eight years. 

Fil Leskovsky

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