William Lai tipped to be DPP’s presidential candidate after Tsai Ing-wen’s Taiwan poll victory
- Analysts say Tsai’s running mate and former bitter rival had party’s support clinched before Saturday’s election victory
- A reputation as a capable administrator and willingness to mend fences with Tsai have paved the way for Lai to become DPP standard-bearer four years from now
Taiwan’s vice-president-elect William Lai Ching-te has been tipped to be the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate four years from now following Tsai Ing-wen’s election victory on Saturday.
Seven months ago, Lai was a bitter opponent of Tsai, seeking to replace her as the self-governed island’s leader by winning the ruling DPP’s presidential primary races.
But Lai, a 60-year-old political star who almost sparked infighting within the DPP, is now in political wedlock with Tsai, after accepting the president’s invitation in November to be her running mate.
Together, the pair defeated the mainland-friendly Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu of the opposition Kuomintang, in the crucial elections watched closely by Washington and Beijing.
“We are comrades within the party, and she is not my enemy or adversary,” Lai said of Tsai when he finally announced on November 17 that he would become the president’s running mate after losing to her in a June DPP primary he had denounced as rigged to help Tsai secure the nomination.