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Anti-Lee voices reach crescendo in KMT

The chorus of KMT hardliners calling for the ouster of former president and chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) is reaching a crescendo.

Party conservatives are upset with Lee because he is supporting the rival Taiwan Solidarity Union, a pro-Taiwan political group that plans to back the DPP after the year-end elections.

KMT lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday demanded that the party take action soon to discipline Lee if he refuses to quit the KMT voluntarily.

Hung, a member of the KMT's Central Standing Committee, said she would raise the proposal at the committee's weekly meeting today. She said the party's leadership should face up to the problem rather than pretending that nothing has happened.

"The party leadership cannot keep behaving as if it sees nothing with its eyes wide open," Hung said.

The lawmaker's proposal comes a day after her colleague Hung Hsing-rong (洪性榮) openly urged Lee to quit the party voluntarily. Hung Hsing-rong is widely known as a Lee loyalist.

Apollo Chen (陳學聖), another KMT lawmaker, agreed yesterday that the party should no longer take a head-in-the-sand attitude toward the matter.

"Lee is taking the initiative to not only challenge, but also provoke the KMT," Chen said.

The KMT conservatives feel that Lee has betrayed the party he led for 12 years -- though Lee himself feels the party's current leadership has betrayed the pro-Taiwan ideals he worked to establish during his tenure.

Chen said the KMT should only resort to party discipline if other methods do not work first.

The lawmaker suggested sending other party members with close ties to the former chairman in an effort to convince Lee to quit on his own accord.

The KMT would rather have Lee leave the party on his own volition, as forcing him out would likely turn him into a martyr among his supporters.

"We hope more people will come out to let Lee know that many people within the party are unhappy with him," Chen said.

Despite the growing calls for Lee's ouster, others within the party still believe it's better to keep a low profile on the matter.

Legislative speaker and party Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who maintains close ties with Lee and visited him last week, said the party should keep its composure in handling the issue to avoid causing negative publicity before the year-end elections.
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