Opposition split key to presidential election defeat: KMT

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) on Wednesday attributed its defeat in the Jan. 13 presidential election partly to failing to form a joint ticket with the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

Although the election results showed that roughly 60 percent of voters wanted to remove the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from power, that aspiration failed because the opposition did not unite, KMT executive members said during the party's Central Standing Committee meeting.

Due to disagreements between the KMT and TPP on who should run as president on a prospective joint ticket, KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) eventually named former lawmaker and talk show host Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康) as his running mate, while the TPP's Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) chose TPP Legislator Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈) as his vice president pick.

The KMT and TPP tickets secured 33.49 percent and 26.46 percent of the votes, respectively, behind the DPP's Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who garnered 5.5 million votes, or 40 percent of the total.

The KMT's campaign to improve cross-Taiwan Strait relations and end government corruption, although appealing, could not rival orchestrated efforts from what it called the "apparatus of the state" manipulated by the DPP government to benefit their candidate, said Lin Kuan-yu (林寬裕), head of the KMT's Culture and Communications Committee.

In addition, Lin went on, the KMT must work harder in southern Taiwan, where the party received about 700,000 votes less than the DPP. It is also important to solicit more support from young voters, he added.

With many in the party calling for the resignation of KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Chu said Wednesday that he will "shoulder all responsibilities and endure humiliations to stay in the position until the end of his term," which is in October 2025.

Starting Jan. 19 in New Taipei, Chu said, he will tour cities and counties in Taiwan with Hou and KMT lawmakers, where he will talk to grassroots supporters, to get local feedback on party reforms.