Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has finally expressed his willingness to run for the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairmanship in the May elections.
Since Ma revealed his intention to join the race, the whole situation seems to have become a contest between Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Ma's announcement was not made out of the blue, but was the result of careful thought. His reputation was badly damaged by the incident involving the transfer of a critically injured four-year-old girl from Taipei to Taichung for urgent brain surgery last month.
However, Wang's political career has been looking up since last December's legislative elections. Given this contrast, it is understandable that Ma is doing everything to escape his current political slump.
KMT Legislator and Ma supporter Lai Shyh-bao (
Therefore, Ma has burned his boats and has no choice but to forge ahead. It is hardly a surprise that he has been portrayed as Wang's rival. In fact, Ma's rival is not Wang, but KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Certainly, there is currently no trace of Lien being humble and retiring; on the contrary, he seems to have a number of irons in the fire. First, Lien wants to ensure the integrity of party assets, and will certainly not accept any kind of settlement. This is one reason that Lien won't permit KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (
Lien frankly pointed out that it would put Chiang in an awkward situation to examine his own party assets if he took the post of vice premier.
Second, he wants to hang on to the KMT-owned China Television and the Broadcasting Corporation of China, and therefore broke off negotiations with Sycamore Ventures to retain control over these media mouthpieces.
Third, the old guard all back Lien: some posting advertisements, some openly criticizing Wang and Ma, and still others opposing the transition of power to the next generation, all as part of the show of support for Lien's continued leadership.
Wang has a better understanding of Lien than Ma does. Wang's tackling of issues such as last year's presidential election, the 319 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真調會條例) and the two election lawsuits all served Lien's purposes. In the same way, Wang has won Lien's support, and his post as first-ranking legislator-at-large was not earned without effort.
Lien accepts Wang's veneration, and believes that Wang truly understands him. If Lien does not run for another term, Wang will definitely be the favored candidate for chairmanship, and Lien can continue to exercise his influence behind the scenes.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
TRANSLATED BY LIN YA-TI
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