Opposition Parties Agree To Run on Joint Presidential Ticket
Taiwan's two biggest opposition parties have upended the country's January 2024 presidential race by agreeing to unite their candidates on a joint ticket.
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00:00 A show of unity between Taiwan's two most powerful opposition parties after a last-minute
00:06 deal that transforms the country's presidential race.
00:10 Taiwan's century-old KMT has agreed to fight January's election alongside political newcomers,
00:18 the Taiwan People's Party.
00:19 Their two candidates joined on a single ticket.
00:22 "Today we are writing history of Taiwan.
00:25 Not only is this the third wave of democratic reform, but this year's election will also
00:32 be a time for the government to gather more power and make Taiwan a better society."
00:40 For weeks, Hoi O-Yi of the KMT and Ker Wen-Je, the maverick founder of the Taiwan People's
00:45 Party, have been fighting a fractured campaign, their division risking defeat in a four-way
00:51 race.
00:52 The ideas of splitting the opposition vote are what brought the two parties here to hammer
00:56 out a last-minute agreement.
00:58 That's after weeks of back and forth and meetings with no concrete result.
01:02 Now they've agreed to unite, Ker and Hoi pose a serious challenge to the ruling party candidate,
01:08 current vice president Lai Ching-de of the DPP.
01:12 He's led opinion polls for months, but those polls also suggest he'd lose to a united opposition.
01:18 "The polling suggests that the cumulative sum of the supporters of Hoi O-Yi and Ker
01:25 Wen-Je would support the ticket minus only a small percentage point, one or two points."
01:30 The new coalition still needs to announce which candidate will run for president and
01:34 which for vice president, an order they say will be based on who's doing better in the
01:38 polls.
01:39 But regardless of the lineup, the joint ticket deal is a boost for Taiwan's opposition and
01:45 a blow for the ruling party's chances of holding on to power.
01:49 Patrick Jenners-Butler in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.
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