Controversies in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) regarding their choice of presidential candidate prove that factionalism is alive and well in both major political parties in Taiwan. No clear frontrunner has yet emerged in both parties, though both the KMT and DPP are attempting to plan ahead of time for who the other party runs.
Although it has long been speculated that former premier and mayor of Tainan William Lai (賴清德) might seek to challenge current president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for the DPP’s 2020 presidential nomination, it still came as a surprise when Lai announced that he would be seeking the DPP’s presidential nomination earlier this month.
