Taiwan's opposition parties are trying to keep their alliance alive ahead of local elections, a show of unity that is good for both parties but harder to pull off outside Taichung.

• Taichung mayor Lu Shiu-yen and Taiwan People's Party chair Huang Kuo-chang appeared together at a city event and said working together helps both sides, while splitting hurts both.
• The joint appearance came right after the two parties failed to agree on a single candidate in the Zhubei mayoral race.
• Lu said each city and county is different, and praised the difficulty of the job facing party leaders trying to broker deals everywhere at once.
• Huang backed Legislative Yuan deputy speaker Chiang Chi-chen to succeed Lu in Taichung, calling Taichung's business his party's business.
• Chiang said party cooperation takes time, trust and constant talking, and that difficulties can be worked out by putting voters first.

Outlook: The Taichung model will be held up as the template, but more deals are likely to break down in other races as candidate registration approaches.