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Top KMT figure plays name game

The future is bleak for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) unless it follows through with internal reform and renames itself the Taiwan Nationalist Party, a top member of the party's Central Standing Committee said yesterday.

"Out of necessity of democratizing the party and its future development, the KMT should change its name to the Taiwan Nationalist Party, or simply the Nationalist Party," said Hung Yu-chin (洪玉欽), a former KMT legislator who was elected to the party's Central Standing Committee last August with the most votes.

It was the second time Hung has called on the party to change its name. At a Central Standing Committee meeting last November, Hung said that the name change would strengthen the party's pro-Taiwan, pro-localization image.

At the time Hung's suggestion received no further discussion because KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) turned it over to the party's policy-making department for review.

However yesterday, Hung, who made the remarks during the committee's second meeting since the March 20 election, went on to urge the party to come up with a new generation of leadership in order to meet changes in the nation's political scene.

While Lien didn't make any specific decision at the meeting on the proposal, the idea received support from a number of committee members, particularly those who represented southern constituencies.

"To be frank, it would be best to take out the word `Chinese' from the party's formal name," said KMT Legislator and former Kaohsiung mayor Wu Duen-yih (吳敦義).

"When you say `Chinese,' it is the people's general impression that it refers to the other side of the Strait," Wu said. "By doing away with the word `Chinese,' we can save the party many unnecessary attacks from political opponents."

Representing a constituency in Tainan County, KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) cited the public's growing Taiwanese conscious, saying that "it is an unavoidable trend [to have the party's name changed to Taiwan Nationalist Party.]"

Su Chi (蘇起), director of the party's international affairs department, however, said that "substantial inter-party reform is more important than changing the party's name."

Meanwhile, members of the KMT-PFP alliance disagreed over the decision to hold a mass demonstration in Taipei this Saturday.

The alliance, demanding to know the truth about the election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), said it would go ahead with the demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard despite reservations voiced by Premier Yu Shyi-kun following clashes between protesters and riot police at a similar event last weekend.

"[The alliance] should halt the demonstration while things are still looking good," Hung said. "Given that it is hard sometimes to keep things in order when staging street protests, whose responsibility would it be if any violence breaks out?"

Lee said that it would be more constructive if both Lien and Soong could instead visit grassroots party supporters.

PFP Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), however, said that the desire to halt the street protest was merely an opinion held by a small number of pan-blue members.

"I hope that people with such a view can join us [in the demonstration] and not just offer their personal opinions about the protest while not taking part in it," Chou said. "This will only give room to others to sow discord among members of the pan-blue camp."

PFP Legislator Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國) said that Saturday's demonstration was necessary to push the alliance's cause.

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