ELECTION 2024/TPP's Ko urges supporters not to lose faith after election defeat

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) urged his supporters not to be disheartened but to continue their hard work to secure victory for Taiwan at the next election, after finishing third in Saturday's presidential election.

At around 8:04 p.m. Saturday, the TPP founder appeared at his campaign headquarters in New Taipei to thank the supporters gathered there, saying the campaign run by the party showed the world Taiwan is no longer dominated by the green and blue camps.

With 99 percent of Taiwan's 17,795 polling stations reporting as of 8:43 p.m., Ko had received 3,662,314, or 26.44 percent of the vote.

Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) received 5,552,912 votes, or 40.09 percent of the vote. Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), received 4,634,509 votes, or 33.46 percent of the vote.

The outcome of the election will not be confirmed until the results are officially announced by the CEC.