TPP halts cooperation with KMT in Hsinchu County after Zhubei spat

Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) on Sunday said it would halt all electoral cooperation with the Kuomintang (KMT) in Hsinchu County, after the allied opposition parties each refused to defer to the other's preferred candidate in the Zhubei City mayor's race.

On Thursday, the second-to-last day to formally enter the race, the KMT's Wu Hsu-chih (吳旭智) and TPP's Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) both registered as candidates for Zhubei mayor in Taiwan's Nov. 28 local elections.

They will face off against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tseng Sheng-kai (曾聖凱) and independent Li Chen-hsiu (李貞秀), a China-born former TPP lawmaker who was expelled from the party in April, thus also losing her legislative seat.

While Wu initially tried to downplay the KMT-TPP standoff, saying cooperation in the race was still possible, comments by another local KMT candidate appeared to fan the flames.

Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the KMT's nominee for magistrate of Hsinchu County -- of which Zhubei City is a part -- claimed during an interview on Friday that the parties had not made any agreement on who should defer to whom in the Zhubei race, and that the TPP had never formally pledged to support a primary.

On Saturday, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) fired back, accusing the KMT and Hsu of "going back on their word," and then making matters worse by "continuing to lie about it in public."

At a meeting of the TPP's Central Committee on Sunday morning, the party passed a resolution suspending electoral cooperation with the KMT on all races in Hsinchu County.

TPP Secretary-General Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修) said after the meeting that the KMT and Hsu's "inability to keep promises" had "seriously damaged the foundation of mutual trust that the TPP and KMT have gradually built over the last two years."

Chou also called on TPP members to unite behind its nominee in the Zhubei race, warning that any party members who publicly support or stand on stage with an opponent will face disciplinary measures, including possible expulsion.

It was unclear, however, if Chou's warning was aimed more at potential backers of the KMT's nominee or ex-TPP member Li Chen-hsiu.

The KMT-TPP alliance

The larger opposition KMT and smaller TPP reached an agreement in March to coordinate candidates and cooperate on policy positions in the Nov. 28 elections.

Under the agreement, the TPP has agreed to support the KMT's mayoral or magistrate nominees in New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Yilan County.

The KMT, meanwhile, is supporting the TPP's candidate in Chiayi City, while the parties have agreed to jointly support an independent in Chiayi County and an independent former TPP member in Hsinchu City.

Hsinchu County and Zhubei

Hsu Hsin-ying, the KMT's nominee for Hsinchu County magistrate, was the founder in 2015 of the Minkuotang, a KMT splinter party. Wu Hsu-chih, the KMT's Zhubei candidate, is also a former Minkuotang chairman.

In the Hsinchu County magistrate election, Hsu will face off against Cheng Chao-fang (鄭朝方), the current DPP mayor of Zhubei, while the TPP did not put forward a candidate.

Zhubei, and Hsinchu County in general, have grown rapidly and gained prominence in recent years because of their proximity to Hsinchu Science Park.