The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary has been a magnet for controversy, but at a time when public attention is focused on Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) — despite his insistence that he is not interested in running next year — an increasingly marginalized hopeful appears to have been trying to stir up discussion.
When former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced — on the same day that he handed over the mayorship in December last year — that he would make a second presidential bid, he was deemed as the strongest potential candidate and likely to secure the nomination, if KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) decided to put the interests of his party above his own and not enter the primary.
Given the KMT’s momentum following its landslide victories in the nine-in-one local elections in November last year, there was no better time for Chu to run for president and seek revenge against President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who defeated him in the 2016 presidential election and cost him the KMT chairmanship.
Chu, who has also served as Taoyuan County commissioner and vice premier, has been seen as a leading figure who represents the KMT’s new generation — at least until Han’s meteoric rise made almost everyone else within the party irrelevant.
In politics, not being noticed at all is worse than being unpopular. That is unfortunately what has been happening to Chu, as more KMT members join in the call for Han to “save the KMT” and run next year.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and that is exactly what Chu is doing. Instead of developing policies around a core set of values, he appears to have been trying hard to say things people want to hear, regardless of whether they are good for the nation.
First, he promised to execute more death row inmates if he is elected president. It is unknown whether he actually supports capital punishment, but the way he handled the issue suggests it is nothing but a calculated move to stir up public discussion and get attention.
For an internationally isolated nation such as Taiwan, its adoption of a democratic system and relatively good human rights records are the few assets it has to leverage other like-minded state actors to lend support in times of need.
While it is tempting to capitalize on overwhelming support in Taiwan for the retention of capital punishment, the problem is that it does not always work and could cause serious damage to the nation’s record.
A good example is the Tsai administration’s execution of a death row inmate in August last year, the only execution during her term. It was widely viewed as a desperate attempt to increase public support for the Democratic Progressive Party before the November elections, but the party performed poorly regardless.
Chu’s attack on the National Communications Commission over fines it issued to CtiTV News for its notoriously inaccurate news coverage is also problematic.
Chu has clearly taken advantage of a widespread misunderstanding among pan-blue camp supporters that the fines were issued over CtiTV News’ disproportionate coverage of Han to consolidate support for himself in the KMT’s traditional voter base.
Unfortunately for Chu, the only thing he has done is stir up short-lived attention, which is far from enough to help him secure the KMT’s nomination, let alone the presidency.
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