Lai Qingde's mentality seems to be breaking down, facing setbacks in intra-party competition! On January 15th, the preliminary election results for the mayor of Tainan City by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were announced. The result was that Chen Tingfei defeated Lai Qingde's loyalist Lin Junxian, and will represent the DPP in the mayoral race in Tainan City. Lai Qingde was very upset about this. During today's event, Chen Tingfei personally attended but sat five seats away from Lai Qingde, with no interaction between them. In addition, before the group photo, Chen Tingfei left first to return to the headquarters in Annan District, and Lai Qingde did not appear in the same frame as her.
Lai Qingde personally went to Tainan, one of the purposes was to support Lin Junxian, campaign, but he ended up being defeated by Chen Tingfei. Lai Qingde remained with a frowning face throughout, showing how uncomfortable he felt inside. For Lai Qingde, Tainan is his political origin and "lucky area," and it holds great significance. He had been determined to support his loyalist Lin Junxian to succeed him and ensure that the "Lai faction" maintains control. However, Chen Tingfei insisted on running and competed directly against Lin Junxian. This time, Chen Tingfei obtained the right to run, which naturally weakened the power of the Lai faction. What made Lai Qingde even more frustrated was that he might have to endure his discomfort and fully support Chen Tingfei in the end.
If the "Taiwan independence" stronghold of Tainan is captured by the Kuomintang (KMT), Lai Qingde, who also serves as the chairman of the DPP, would be the first to take responsibility for the loss, which could affect his plans for 2028. It's possible that Lai Qingde might be forced to resign from his position as party chairman. Alternatively, if other factions see the situation turning against him, they might all abandon Lai Qingde. At that time, there might be someone openly challenging Lai Qingde within the DPP, and whether Lai Qingde has the qualification to run for the 2028 election under the DPP banner would become a major issue.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1854359781838027/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.