The first televised debate among Taiwan’s candidates for the 2024 presidential election is scheduled for October 21.
Greenpeace Taiwan and the International Climate Development Institute will host the debate that is to be focused on environmental and climate policies. Greenpeace says it will issue a policy proposal paper on the 31st, as well as create a checklist for the candidates to compare their climate and net-zero policies ahead of the debate.
The three leading candidates Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ching-te (賴清德), New Taipei City Mayor and Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜), and former Taipei City Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) have all agreed to attend.
Foxconn founder and independent candidate Terry Gou (郭台銘) officially announced his candidacy less than a week ago. In order to qualify for the election, Gou must obtain public signatures supporting his candidacy equal to 1.5% of the voting population, which is about 290,000 signatures. Greenpeace says that it is likely that Gou will actively be gathering them at the time of the debate. Therefore, Greenpeace will offer a tentative invitation for Gou to participate. Greenpeace adds that they will elaborate on their election plans at a press conference on Thursday.