TPP's Ko benefiting from frustration of young voters

TAIPEI In a political landscape long dominated by two parties, a surprisingly viable third force has emerged in Taiwan in the form of a socially awkward father of three with a penchant for courting controversy.

Known for being brash and candid though some would say offensive Taiwan People's Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je is far from your typical politician.

Yet, the 64-year-old former surgeon, who hung up his medical coat to enter politics in 2014, has managed to attract hordes of loyal, and typically younger, fans attracted by his straight-talking ways and savvy social media campaign strategy, which includes a viral music video of him rapping.

Mostly, though, his supporters have grown weary of Taiwan's traditional two-party political system.

For more than two decades since 2000, power has alternated between the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which leans towards independence for Taiwan, and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which favours closer relations with Beijing.

For Dr Ko, the two parties represent extremes in the way they handle cross-strait relations, one of the key issues in every presidential election in Taiwan. China looms large in Taiwanese politics because it claims the self-ruled island as its territory to be reunified with the mainland one day, by force if necessary.

Dr Ko argues it is his party, which he formed in 2019 and branded as being above Taiwan's entrenched duopoly, that is able to tread a middle path not weighed down by ideology.

"The DPP always takes a very confrontational attitude (with China), while the KMT is always thinking about cooperation with China," he said during a televised presidential debate on Dec 30.

"We have to cooperate when necessary, but also confront when necessary," he added.

Depending on who you ask, though, the bespectacled greyhaired man either represents the long overdue change that Taiwan needs or is a political chameleon who cannot be trusted.