On the evening of Sept. 17, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je unexpectedly appeared at the Central Election Commission. While everyone assumed he was registering for the presidential race, Ko clarified the next morning that it was nothing more than a social visit to pick up his mother. Ko then reaffirmed he is not running. Terry Gou's office also denied reports that Gou will accept a nomination from the People First Party to run for president. His spokesperson also said Gou has no plans to meet with Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu.


My passionate supporters keep encouraging me to run. They even asked my mom for help. It's like this. I had to go to the Central Election Commission to collect my mother.

According to Ko Wen-je, he did not go to the Central Election Commission on the 17th to register for the presidential race. Ko says it was purely a social call and he was picking up his mother. He also said if he didn't always have his ID card on him, he might have been registered for the race. In addition, Ko said his mother can't understand why Terry Gou withdrew from the race.

With Terry Gou withdrawing from the race, what are we supposed to do now? As I've said, Taiwan isn't in that much danger. There's no reason to panic with the US carrying us. I've discovered that the person who most supports me running is my mother. If Terry Gou wants to run, of course I would support him. Actually, I never really wanted to run that much in the first place. It's just that his sudden announcement that he was withdrawing -- good heavens. What are we supposed to do now?

Ko says he is not running and all the public opinion polls with him as a candidate were "nonsense." At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of moving forward with the People First Party. Gou's office, meanwhile, dismissed speculation that Gou may be announced as the PFP candidate in November.

Is (he) waiting for the People First Party's ticket? This (speculation) -- Mr. Gou, he himself personally denies it. He says nothing could be further from the truth so everyone should stop worrying about it. He also wanted me to tell everyone that because he has already withdrawn from the election, many things are now at an end for us.

Gou's spokesperson said Gou will not run and his current to-do list includes holding six to eight thank-you banquets around Taiwan as well as establishing a think tank and school to help the nation. His spokesperson also said Gou may join forces with Ko's Taiwan People's Party for the legislative elections. With regards to meeting with Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu, Gou's spokesperson said Gou has no plans to meet with Han because of Han's busy schedule and Gou not wanting to take up his valuable time.



台北市長 柯文哲表示：「熱情的支持者，一直鼓勵我去選，甚至還找到我媽媽，是這樣啦！我要去中選會，把我媽媽帶走。」

柯文哲一開口就先澄清，17號傍晚現身中選會不是去登記，而是去致意並且帶走柯媽媽，還秀出身分證有隨身攜帶，不然差一點被登記，還自爆柯媽媽對於郭台銘不選很不諒解。

台北市長 柯文哲表示：「郭台銘沒選，現在是要怎麼辦？我說台灣沒那麼危險啦！美國揹著別緊張啦！我發現很鼓勵我選的，是我媽媽，郭台銘要選，我當然支持他，其實我本來選的意願就不高，只是說突然不選了，天啊！這要怎麼處理。」

柯文哲不參選，還笑說之前藍綠初選民調都把他當假想敵，現在一看完全沒有正當性了，至於是否可能跟親民黨合作倒是保留空間，另外鴻海創辦人郭台銘，沒有前往登記參選，是否可能等11月親民黨推薦，郭台銘辦公室否認，並且強調很多事情到此為止。

郭台銘辦公室發言人 蔡沁瑜表示：「是不是在等親民黨的門票？這件事情，郭先生他自己是親自否認，他說絕對沒有這樣子的事，請大家不用再擔心了，他也要我表達一個態度就是說，因為它現在已經退出了，這場競選活動，所以很多事情，我們就到此為止。」

蔡沁瑜表示郭台銘不參選但接下來將做三件事，首先是北中南6到8場的感恩餐會，再來是成立智庫和創立學校，繼續為國家服務累積能量，接下來也不排除與民眾黨布局立委選舉，但是否會與高雄市長韓國瑜見面，郭辦則強調韓市長忙碌，也不想耽誤他的行程，韓郭會可能性不高。