TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Business tycoon Terry Gou shared the key characteristics of his potential running mate on Tuesday (Sept. 5), during a visit to the Dongmen Market seeking support from local businesses.
Gou stressed that he will announce the vice presidential pick shortly, and outlined four traits of the potential candidate: capability, female gender, an administrative background, and a minimal political affiliation.
"The first quality of my deputy candidate is that this person should be more capable than I am," Gou told reporters, "The second is that this person must be female."
Given his background as a businessman, Gou expressed a desire for his running mate to possess extensive experiences in "various administrative-related policy-making," while maintaining "a minimal political overtone because the public is getting weary of politicians."
As several public opinion polls stated that he was trailing behind other candidates, Gou doubted the credibility of these polls, and highlighted that most of his supporters prefer to remain discreet about their political affiliations, describing them as "closet partisans" who do not openly express their views.
Gou reiterated that his purpose in running as an independent candidate is to unite all opposition parties in Taiwan and take down the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the election scheduled on Jan. 13, 2024.
Despite being greeted enthusiastically by some vendors, Gou was yelled at by a woman before entering the market who accused him "a traitor selling out Taiwan." He did not appear to be affected and continued on his visit to the traditional market in the capital city.