The party that was meant to disrupt Taiwan's two-party system is grappling with a host of scandals that could see its abrupt end. Speculation is mounting that its founder and chairman Ko Wen-je could be stepping down.
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00:00Starting off with the headlines, speculation is mounting that Ke Wenzhe, the charismatic
00:05head of the Taiwan People's Party, could announce he's stepping down.
00:09The TPP is grappling with a host of scandals, including financial irregularities.
00:15Louise Watt is following developments for us from Taipei.
00:18Louise, how significant is Ke and his party in Taiwan's politics?
00:26Getting less significant by the day.
00:29Lesley, there's a feeling that these scandals are the beginning of the end for the Taiwan
00:33People's Party, the third party in Taiwanese politics.
00:38Outside his home this morning, Ke was asked by journalists, did you sleep well?
00:43He said he did, and that he'll be holding a press conference at 3pm this afternoon to
00:48explain things.
00:50Now, the Taiwan People's Party is only five years old, but Ke's political story goes back
00:57further than that.
00:58He's the charismatic former mayor of Taipei, and he built and shaped the TPP in his own
01:07image.
01:08And in fact, in a sense, he wanted to rise above politics.
01:12He wanted to disrupt the two-party divide that's characterized politics in Taiwan for
01:18a generation.
01:20He said, for example, that he wasn't going to be pro or anti-Beijing.
01:25And in fact, he was the only political leader that both Beijing and Washington would have
01:30no problem with.
01:32Now, whether that's true or not, we don't know, because he lost the presidential elections
01:36in January.
01:37But he and his party did attract a lot of votes from young people who were upset with
01:44the establishment.
01:46And like many populist politicians in other countries, Ke has a way of speaking that's
01:53very direct.
01:54He doesn't sound like a politician.
01:56But on the other side, he's also quite often inconsistent.
02:01He's gaffe-prone.
02:02And he's also made several comments criticized as misogynistic.
02:07So despite that, though, the TPP won enough seats in the legislature in January to hold
02:14the balance of power.
02:16So they looked set to be a key political force for at least the next four years.
02:22Now, that's all looking a lot less certain.
02:26So we'll hear from Ke in about an hour's time whether he's going to step down, whether he
02:32thinks his party can go on, or whether we should expect to return to the two-party model
02:39of politics that's dominated in Taiwan for so long.