Taiwan's opposition camp is turning friction over local elections into alliance negotiations — an opportunity for consolidation for the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party, and a source of pressure for the Democratic Progressive Party.

• Taichung Mayor Lu Shiu-yen has floated an "opposition grand alliance," arguing that the opposition should unite to counterbalance the DPP.
• TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang and KMT legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh have each echoed the idea, and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has also voiced agreement.
• The trigger was a dispute over the candidate for mayor of Zhubei in Hsinchu, which opened a rift in KMT-TPP cooperation and created a need for a new framework for consensus.
• Chiang Wan-an said that in Taipei his aim is to maximise the number of seats held by the KMT and TPP, effectively bringing the alliance down to the practical level of nominations.
• The DPP hit back, saying the KMT enjoys one-party dominance in Taichung and criticising the move as the manufacturing of conflict by a party with no record of achievement to show.

Outlook: whether the KMT and TPP can turn the slogan into an actual allocation of nominations and a working mechanism for cooperation will be the key question in the next phase.