KMT heavyweight's candidacy may be rejected

Former minister of foreign affairs and deputy secretary-general of the KMT Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday faced the possibility that his application to run for Taichung City mayor might be rejected by the party.

Hu may be disqualified as a candidate by the KMT's election commission in Taichung because he has reportedly already registered as a candidate in the primary for the Taipei County Commissioner's seat.

When filing the registration in Taichung City, Hu was told that a former member of the National Assembly, Chuang Lung-chang (莊隆昌), had earlier completed procedures to register him as a candidate for Taipei County Commissioner. Hu's registration in Taichung City, therefore, may be invalid, the party's central headquarters said yesterday.

"We need to consult with [KMT] headquarters to see whether Hu's registration is complete and valid," chairman of the party's Taichung City division, Mu Kuei-hsin (沐桂新), said yesterday afternoon.

Hu responded with disbelief.

"I find this hard to accept. However, I don't remember whether I'd ever asked Chuang to register me [in Taipei County]," Hu said yesterday afternoon in Taichung City.

Hoping the party would not bar him as a candidate in Taichung City, Hu said that he would do his best to settle the dispute as soon as possible.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. However, I am concerned that this dispute may have a negative impact on my election campaign in Taichung City," Hu added.

Mu also said the dispute would cause some damage to the party's and Hu's image.

Chao Shou-po (趙守博), director-general of the KMT's organizational development committee, however, said that the party's Taichung City division was following procedures appropriately.

The party's Taipei County division yesterday confirmed that Chuang had shown the division an authorization letter by Hu and turned in a deposit of NT$300,000, as well as letters of endorsement signed by 3,000 KMT members.

The division yesterday said that Hu has now technically completed the registration to join the primary for the Taipei County Commissioner's race. Hu said last night that he pull out of the election since it seems he has no chance of running for the Taichung City mayorship.

Another possible KMT candidate in the Taipei County Commissioner's race, Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉), had previously revealed that the party's central headquarters preferred that Hu participate in the Taipei County race instead of Taichung City.

"He's in a dilemma. I feel sorry for him and hope the party respects Hu's wishes," Lin said, adding that he welcomed the competition if Hu decided to run in the Taipei County race.

Other than Lin and Hu, KMT lawmaker Tsai Chia-fu (蔡家福) has also entered the primary for the Taipei County Commissioner's post. In Taichung City, legislators Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲), Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and speaker of the Taichung City Council Chang-Lao Kuei-chuan (張廖貴專) have all completed registrations to compete with Hu, should he be allowed to participate.