Taiwan's opposition parties fail to announce joint presidential candidate ahead of January 2024 election

Taiwan’s two main opposition parties, which launched a joint presidential bid last month, have failed to agree on a candidate for president, once again throwing into doubt their ability to unseat the ruling party in January’s election.

On Saturday, the Nationalist Party and the Taiwan People’s Party were expected to announce a joint presidential candidate for the January 2024 elections. Instead, the parties announced they needed further consultations after a disagreement over how to use polling data to make the selection.

With the candidates for both parties trailing in the polls, they had agreed three days ago to form a joint ticket with one candidate for president and the other for vice president. The decision on who would get the presidential nod — Hou Yu-ih of the Nationalist Party or Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party — was to be based on a combination of public polls and internal party polls.

The failure to announce a joint candidate has left current Vice President William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party as the frontrunner. He is running to succeed President Tsai Ing-wen, who must step down after eight years because of a two-term limit on the presidency.

The Nationalist Party and the Taiwan People’s Party have vowed to renew talks with China. The issue of China, which views Taiwan as its territory, looms over the Jan. 13 parliamentary and presidential elections. China has stepped up military and political pressure to press the island to accept its sovereignty claim, which Taiwan rejects, including high-profile war games.

With inputs from agencies