A woman was nominated as the KMT's vice chairperson yesterday, the first time in the 100-year history of the party that a women has been nominated for such a high position.
Former Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs chairperson Lin Cheng-chih (
"I'm surprised and a bit frightened," said Lin with a look of disbelief on her face, adding that she would do her best to assist Lien in his mission to lead the KMT back into power
The other four candidates for the position are former premier Vincent Siew (
The emergence of Lin in this race has been seen as an effort by the party to improve its image with female voters after its defeat in the March 18 election.
"Since the party set a quota for the number of women to be included in its decision-making bodies, it is natural to push for there to be a female vice-chairperson," Lien's assistant Lee Chien-jung(
Earlier yesterday, the congress meeting passed a reform package including the quota provision.
According the newly passed measures, the KMT has set a quota of 40 percent for minorities in its decision-making bodies -- among which a quota of 25 percent women is stipulated.
"We have reached consensus as to the path we have to go down for reform, but what we need now is to put the plan into action," announced KMT chairman Lien Chan at the close of the two-day meeting yesterday.
To create a more democratic party, all future chairmen will be directly elected by party members.
The first direct chairmanship election will be held at the party's congress meeting next year.
The KMT also decided to exclude individuals with criminal records from being nominated under a KMT ticket in a bid to eliminate the party's "black gold" (黑金) image.
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