Taiwan People's Party

Taiwan People's Party
台灣民眾黨
AbbreviationTPP
ChairmanKo Wen-je
Secretary-GeneralVincent Chou [zh]
FounderKo Wen-je
Founded6 August 2019 (2019-08-06)
HeadquartersNo. 27, Section 1, Hangzhou South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Membership (2023)Increase 32,500
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left
Colours Cyan
White
Legislative Yuan
8 / 113
Municipal mayors
0 / 6
Magistrates/mayors
2 / 16
Councillors
15 / 910
Township/city mayors
0 / 204
Party flag
Website
www.tpp.org.tw Edit this at Wikidata
Taiwan People's Party
Traditional Chinese台灣民眾黨
Simplified Chinese台湾民众党

The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) is a centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was formally established on 6 August 2019 by Ko Wen-je, who serves as its first and current chairman. The party considers itself as an alternative third party to both the Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang.

History

Founding

The party was proposed in August 2019 by Mayor of Taipei Ko Wen-je, for the Ministry of the Interior's approval as one of Taiwan's legal political parties. It is named after political activist Chiang Wei-shui's Taiwanese People's Party, which was formed in 1927 during Japanese colonial rule as Taiwan's first political party against Japanese fascism. The newly formed Taiwan People's Party conducted its founding assembly on 6 August 2019, which was Ko's 60th birthday and Chiang's 129th birthday, as a requirement of the Interior Ministry. According to Ko, the Taiwan People's Party seeks to "become an alternative" to both the Pan-Green Coalition headed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), as well as the Kuomintang (KMT)-influenced Pan-Blue Coalition.

Chiang Li-jung, a descendant of Chiang Wei-shui's, stated that Ko was taking advantage of similarities between himself and Chiang Wei-shui. The Chiang Wei-shui Cultural Foundation panned the name of Ko's political party, stating that confusion may arise between it and Chiang's political activity. In response, Ko stated that he preferred to retain the name, as establishing a political party was not an illegal act and therefore should not be hindered in any way. On 2 August 2019, Tseng Hsu-cheng, a former deputy mayor of Tainan, began a petition against the registration of the TPP under that name, citing the historical impact of the earlier Taiwanese People's Party.

At a preliminary meeting on 6 August 2019, Ko was elected chairman of the party. The founding assembly of the Taiwan People's Party was held at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center later that day. Of 111 founding party members, 72 attended its founding assembly. The Taiwan People's Party charter permits party members to hold membership status in other political parties. Many early party members worked for the Taipei City Government or for Ko. Among the TPP's first members were politicians formerly affiliated with the DPP and the Kuomintang, as well as a number of political independents.

2020 elections

Ko stated that his Taiwan People's Party would contest the 2020 legislative election, but that he would not mount an independent bid in the presidential election. He later said that the TPP would nominate a full slate of 34 at-large legislative candidates. Political scientist Liao Da-chi opined that Ko's Taiwan People's Party would take more votes from supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party during the 2020 elections. The Taiwan People's Party nominated its first eight candidates for single-member constituencies on 22 September 2019. During a second round of legislative nominations on 20 October 2019, Ko stated that the Taiwan People's Party sought to prevent a single political party from winning a legislative majority. The TPP described this tactic as "pushing the pan-blue and pan-green camps to the side to allow for the people to be in the center." In November 2019, the Taiwan People's Party announced a party list of 29 at-large legislative candidates. In December 2019, the TPP's political goals grew in scale, as Ko stated that the party aimed to be the largest represented in the Legislative Yuan. The TPP won five at-large seats in the 2020 legislative election, becoming the third largest party represented within the legislature.

2020 Kaohsiung mayoral by-election

Wu Yi-jheng of the TPP also ran a candidate in the 2020 Kaohsiung mayoral by-election. However, he finished with only 4.06% of the vote, a distant third to Chen Chi-mai of the DPP (70.03%) and Li Mei-jhen of the KMT (25.90%).

2024 elections

Ko ran as the official candidate for the TPP in the 2024 presidential election and contested in the legislative election. There were plans for a joint ticket in the presidential election with Hou Yu-ih. However, talks collapsed before registration for the presidential ballot after disagreements over policies and leadership issues. Ko nominated Cynthia Wu, an at-large legislative member who serves the 10th Legislative Yuan and businesswoman, as his running-mate on 24th November. The TPP nominated the maximum 34 at-large legislative candidates, and 10 legislative candidates for single-member constituencies, concentrating mostly in northern Taiwan. Ko championed himself as a "middle road" between the KMT and the DPP, attracting young voters that had been dissatisfied with the "big two parties". Ko received 26.46% of the popular vote in the presidential election, placing his party in third place, and received 8 at-large legislative seats, gaining 3 seats in total. The TPP had received its greatest result in these presidential and legislative elections since its inception thus far, preventing both KMT and DPP from obtaining a decisive legislative majority.

Symbols and organization

The party charter also states that the party's formal abbreviated name in Chinese is 民眾黨; Mínzhòngdǎng. Prior to the party's founding, Chinese-language media referred to the party as 台民黨; Táimíndǎng. The party colors are turquoise and white. The first signifies an end to the longtime blue–green political divide in Taiwan. The color white represents the "white force" of Ko's allies, a group that supports open and transparent government.

In 2023, the New Homeland Think Tank Association, was established as a TPP-affiliated think tank.

Election results

Presidential elections

Election Candidate Running mate Total votes Share of votes Outcome
2024 Ko Wen-je Cynthia Wu 3,690,466 26.46% Defeated

Legislative elections

Election Total seats won Total votes Share of votes Changes Party leader Status President
2020
5 / 113
1,588,806 11.22% Ko Wen-je 3rd Party Tsai Ing-wen
2024
8 / 113
3,040,334 22.07% Increase 3 seats Ko Wen-je 3rd Party Lai Ching-te

Local elections

Election Magistrates and mayors Councillors Township/city mayors Township/city council representatives Village chiefs Party leader
2022
unified
2 / 22
14 / 910
0 / 204
9 / 2,139
3 / 7,748
Ko Wen-je

Notable members


This page was last updated at 2024-03-23 02:53 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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