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KMT bids to let Ma double as chairman

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to allow the president to serve concurrently as party chairman and will revise its party regulations to modify the structure of its central standing committee.

KMT spokesman Chen Shu-rong (陳淑容) said yesterday that the party would hold delegation meetings in cities and counties from tomorrow until Sept. 22 to discuss the issues before revisions to party regulations are made during its national congress scheduled for Oct. 11.

The revision would also ask Cabinet members to become designated committee members in the Central Standing Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.

Chen said it had become important for the regulations to be revised after the KMT became the governing party and the latter is responsible for assisting President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

Chen refused to confirm a United Daily News report that the Presidential Office had given a positive response to the KMT’s bid to let Ma double as party chairman.

The national congress will also seek to amend its charter to allow younger party members to participate in politics, she said.

Ma had previously declared that he had no intention of becoming KMT chairman and said party operations must not be mixed with those of the government as “one-party dominance” would not appear under his administration.

Chen said KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) was concerned about the lack of young talent in the party and would seek to revise regulations to attract more young people.

After Ma had declared his lack of interest in taking over the chairmanship, the KMT was reportedly seeking to list Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (朱立倫) as vice chairman to cultivate him as Wu’s successor.

Commenting on the idea of having Ma double as KMT chairman, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a member of the KMT, expressed support yesterday.

“As I have said before, I’ve always supported this idea because it is the [KMT’s] tradition. [Having the president double as party chairman] helps the party develop and helps the administration push its policy,” Wang said.

Asked for comment, KMT Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝), a member of the Central Standing Committee, said the president would be able to better integrate ideas from the government, the party and the Legislative Yuan if he also served as party chairman.

“But you [the president] should not allow the party headquarters to decide on all the policies. Instead, you should establish a democratic platform where the party headquarters, the legislature and the administration can negotiate with each other,” she said.

“The president should serve as the person who makes the final decision. Since he also doubles as party chairman, he should take full responsibility for decisions of both the KMT and the government,” Chu said.

KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) also supported the idea that Ma take over the KMT chairmanship, but added that the president must compete for the position with other party members to ensure the party’s democratic system.
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