Division in KMT ranks looms large

While the KMT has made numerous attempts recently to call back some of its wayward members, heavyweights in the party suggested yesterday that the KMT may be heading towards its third split before the legislative elections at the end of this year.

"Owing to the ambiguous direction of the KMT's central leadership, the separation of the party will begin when the next Legislative Yuan session begins in February," KMT legislator Hsu Chung-hsiung (徐中雄) said.

Hsu said that the party's central leadership still does not accept the result of losing the presidential election and has refused to implement party reform.

"It's obvious that the key members of our party's central headquarters are only interested in accusing others rather than taking responsibility for losing the election. They don't want to use the party's resources to reform the party's structure," Hsu said.

The KMT's first major split was in 1993 when members of the party opposed to then KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) left and formed the New Party.

Just before last year's presidential election, the campaign of James Soong (宋楚瑜) caused another group of KMT members to leave the party.

After the election Soong founded the People First Party.

The KMT is currently involved in a signature drive to encourage all party members to re-register, but the effort has nearly fallen flat on its face.

Currently over 850,000 members have come back to re-register with the party.

Initially the KMT had hoped that its signature drive would bring back all of its claimed 2.5 million members.

Part of the problem is that since last year's presidential election, the KMT's central leadership has invited more old members to return to the party, especially those who left the party because of political fights with former KMT chairman Lee, Hsu added.

"The reason why the KMT lost power is `black gold,' but the new KMT leaders seem only to attribute failure to Lee's improper leadership," Hsu said.

Former president of the Control Yuan Chen Li-an (陳履安), who left the KMT in 1996 to run as an independent presidential candidate, formally announced his re-registration as a KMT member last Friday.

The party has also tried to persuade former premier Hau Po-tsun (郝柏村) and former president of the Judicial Yuan Lin Yang-kang (林洋港), who both left the party in 1996 to run for the presidential election, to return to the KMT.

DPP faction leaders also said that the KMT has done little to attract the young to join the party or to release party power to younger politicians.

"KMT leaders have put all their efforts into backing `elder members' and, at the same time, new chairman Lien Chan (連戰) lacks direction and charisma to lead the party," DPP New Tide faction leader Hung Chi-chung (洪奇昌) said.

Political analysts say that the KMT is now eradicating "Lee Teng-hui's line," which has been termed "localization" (本土化).

"Lee changed the KMT's constitution during his 12-year leadership to promote more ethnic Taiwanese as party leaders and his efforts led to the party's two splits," said editor in chief of Contemporary magazine Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒). "Ironically Lee's followers in the party will become the members of a third splinter group"

Last week six KMT legislators, all ethnic Taiwanese, decided to leave the KMT legislative caucus in the next session.

The KMT, which currently holds 115 of the total 225 seats in Legislative Yuan, will not maintain a majority after they lose these lawmakers.