Advertisement
Taiwan’s DPP and KMT launch primaries for 2020 presidential elections
- Candidates announced in what is being seen as a showdown between the self-ruled island’s pro-independence and pro-unification camps
- Popular Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu is ahead of other potential contenders – including Tsai Ing-wen – in most opinion polls
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Kuomintang have begun selecting their presidential candidates, setting the stage for a showdown between the self-ruled island’s pro-independence and pro-unification camps.
The independence-leaning DPP on Monday announced the start of its primaries to choose between President Tsai Ing-wen and former premier William Lai Ching-te to contest the January election.
“Whoever wins the primaries being held from Monday to Friday will represent the party and run in the 2020 presidential poll,” DPP spokesman Chou Chiang-che said, adding the primaries would be based on public opinion surveys and the results would be announced on June 19.
The mainland-friendly KMT meanwhile announced five candidates for its primaries, based on public opinion surveys to be held between July 5 and July 15, with the results to be made public on July 16.
The KMT candidates are Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, Foxconn billionaire chairman Terry Gou Tai-ming, former New Taipei mayor Eric Chu Li-luan, former Taipei county magistrate Chou Hsi-wei and Chang Ya-chung, president of the Sun Yat-sen School in Taipei.
Lawrence Chung covers major news in Taiwan, ranging from presidential and parliament elections to killer earthquakes and typhoons. Most of his reports focus on Taiwan’s relations with China, specifically on the impact and possible developments of cross-strait relations under the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and mainland-friendly Kuomintang governments. Before starting work at the South China Morning Post in 2006, he wrote for Reuters and AFP for more than 12 years.
Advertisement