TAIPEI - In a dramatic anti-climax, Taiwan's two main opposition parties failed to agree on who would lead a joint presidential ticket, which they had been expected to announce on the morning of Nov 18.
A five-hour meeting the night before between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), which stretched till 2am, came to naught when they could not agree on the margin of error for opinion polls.
They had earlier agreed to a review of existing opinion surveys by pollsters to determine which party's candidate would run for president with the other as his running mate and they now have less than a week to do so by the Nov 24 deadline to register their candidaсу.
Analysts believe that a team-up of the two parties would be the only way for the opposition - all seen as more mainland-China-friendly - to present a formidable challenge to the ruling independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
At a press conference on Nov 18, the TPP's candidate, Dr Ko Wen-je, who is also his party's founder and chairman, said he could not be expected to "surrender" to the KMT on the polls issue.
He had previously agreed that even if he came out ahead of the KMT's Mr Hou Yu-ih in the polling survey results but his lead was within the margin of error, he would count that as a win for his rival.
Denne historien er fra November 19, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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