The 106-year-old KMT yesterday held the first direct election for chairman in its history -- an event marred by the failure to vote of former president and chairman Lee Teng-hui (
Lien Chan (
PHOTO: HSIEH WU-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The first direct and open election for chairman is a milestone in [the party's] political modernization, signifying that the KMT has successfully entered a whole new era," Lien said just before casting his vote in the election yesterday morning.
PHOTO: AFP
Lien garnered 97.09 percent of the votes cast, winning 521,712 votes in total. The turnout rate for the election was 57.9 percent, with 537,370 out of the total 928,175 eligible party members voting.
During a speech after the party headquarters had announced the result of the election, Lien stressed that he will henceforward be responsible for the completion of the party's reform.
"Now is not the right time to celebrate our new [democratic] achievement, because we still have plenty to do and many reform efforts to make," Lien said.
Direct elections for the party chairman is part of a package of reforms adopted by the KMT following the party's humiliating defeat in last year's presidential election, when Lien -- the KMT candidate -- was forced into third place.
The KMT's next goal is to have all party leaders formally and publicly authorize the placement of party assets into trusts, which is scheduled to happen tomorrow.
The KMT's Organizational Development Committee director-general, Chao Shou-po (
A sour note was sounded, however, by the failure of former KMT head Lee Teng-hui to show up to cast his vote.
Lee instead spent yesterday afternoon playing golf with business leaders and a group of Japanese friends.
This was much to the consternation of reporters who had camped outside the KMT branch office at his hometown of Tashi in Taoyuan County since the opening of the polls yesterday morning.
But Lee disappointed the journalists, who were still waiting there when the polls closed at 3pm.
Some more enterprising reporters, however, gathering outside the golf club to ask Lee whether he had cast his vote. While sitting on a golf buggy heading toward the next hole, Lee said "I have no time."
In an effort to explain Lee's attitude, Lien told reporters after making his victory speech that Lee had already decided to stay clear of political affairs. Lien simply said: "give him [Lee] a break."
Many of the party's senior leaders and veteran members, including those who once strongly opposed Lee's leadership style -- such as former KMT secretary-general and premier Lee Huan (李煥), former legislative speaker Liang Su-jung (梁肅戎) and former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿) -- all participated in yesterday's election to express their support for Lien.
In yesterday's election party members also elected delegates who will attend the party's 16th National Congress, which is scheduled to be held in August. The congress will be the first party convention held since the KMT lost power last March.
Also see story inside
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or