Blue-white cooperation collapses in Zhubei as Ko Wen-je says, ‘Do not expect to score 100 on the first try’

The blue-white alliance has broken down in the Zhubei mayoral election, but People First Party founder Ko Wen-je said the setback should not erase what he called broader progress in cross-party cooperation.

Speaking after accompanying four People First Party candidates for Keelung City Council to register with the election commission, Ko said cooperation had generally gone well in Yilan, New Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi and Changhua. “Do not expect to score 100 on the first try,” he said, describing the idea of achieving complete perfection in one attempt as an unrealistic expectation.

Ko said political cooperation would move forward step by step. He cautioned against allowing problems involving a small number of people to overshadow the overall picture, saying it was difficult to expect every party and individual to cooperate perfectly or always keep every promise.

He said cooperation in the 2026 elections could still record more successes than failures. Ko also argued that the central question was not simply whether the blue-white or green-white alliances worked, but whether Taiwan could develop a culture of coalition government.

As an example, he referred to cooperation between Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin, saying parties could sign an agreement soon after an election and clearly set out areas of common support and issues that would remain disputed.

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Do not expect to score 100 on the first try.