Twelve legislators and 11 women were elected to the KMT's Central Standing Committee (CSC) yesterday but allegations persisted that the party's executive body continued to meddle in the elections.
Four former National Assembly deputies were also elected to CSC positions, giving more than half the seats to figures with a national profile. Ten were taken by former Cabinet members.
The election of 11 women members meant that the "protective quota" of 25 percent of CSC seats for women was exceeded.
In all, there are 18 new mem-bers, the other 13 being incumbents of the previous committee.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) expressed satisfaction with the result, saying that it brought new hope to the party.
"With 31 members from various social levels and professional fields entering the CSC, the party will benefit from the input of a wide range of opinions in its policy-making process," Lien said.
He saw it as a milestone in the party's history that the CSC now includes 11 women. There were only three women on the previous CSC. Lien had nominated a vice-chairwoman on June 18, in a move interpreted as a symbol of the sincerity of the party's stated aim of promoting women.
He also said that the entrance of 12 lawmakers into the CSC was to be welcomed as likely to bring the party's policy-making machinery closer to public opinion.
Speaker of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) agreed with Lien, saying that the 12 lawmakers, who now occupy more than a third of CSC seats, would not fail to have their voices heard. There were five lawmakers in the previous CSC.
The first three to be elected to the new CSC were former Council for Economic Planning and Development chairman Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), former speaker of the National Assembly Chen Chin-jang (陳金讓) and female lawmaker Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順).
Yesterday's election was the first one in which all CSC positions had been open to a vote. About 80 Central Committee members were thus drawn into contention for the seats. A portion of vote-casting Central Committee members still complained about what they alleged was party meddling in the election.
"Despite the party executive's denial of involvement in efforts to influence the election, I have received a list of `designated' candidates. Why can't the party kick this bad habit?" said Chu Fong-chih (朱鳳芝), a female lawmaker who ran for a CSC seat but was defeated.
Wang Su-yun (王素筠) even accused party officials of lying, saying that their words did not match their deeds.
KMT secretary-general Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) denied that the party had abused its power in order to influence results, saying that it had simply been "concerned" about certain candidates for whom it had engaged in "coordination" work.
"I also received at least three lists, the origins of which were unclear," Lin said.
He did admit, however, that the party had urged that certain candidates be elected, including Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries (中華民國全國工業總會) Kao Chin-yen (高清愿) and former Cabinet members Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄)and Wang Chih-kang (王志剛).
All of these candidates were elected be comfortable margins yesterday.
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