Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday he supported President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) taking over the chairmanship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) next month, as it would improve administrative efficiency.
Liu made the comment during an interview with four Chinese-language newspapers on Tuesday. He told the state-owned Central News Agency (CNA) yesterday that he did not take the initiative in commenting on the issue, but was merely responding to questions.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported Liu as saying he would give his full support to Ma if he sought to double as KMT chairman as he believed this would help bridge a communication gap between the administration and the party.
Liu told CNA that he did not offer his comments to coincide with Ma’s pending decision on the subject and that people should not read too much into what he said.
In the same interview, Liu said that having the president double as party chairman is common in party politics, especially when a party controls the executive branch and the legislative branch, as it has to take full responsibility.
This was evidenced by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who also led the KMT during his presidency, he said.
Liu told CNA he was merely comparing the current situation with his experience in working with previous administrations.
Ma and KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) agreed last month not to talk about who would be the next party chief until next month.
Wu yesterday shrugged off Liu’s statement.
Wu said he and Ma would not be affected by the comments and that the two would finalize the candidate next month.
“We will take the overall situation into consideration and I will bear President Ma’s interests in mind,” Wu said yesterday at KMT headquarters.
Wu refused to comment on whether he was disappointed by Liu’s remarks, but he said he agreed that cooperation between the party and the government would improve.
The KMT chairmanship became the center of media attention after Ma paid an unscheduled visit to Wu at KMT headquarters last month.
Ma has not rebutted speculation that he is considering taking over the party chairmanship to better control party legislators and other party affairs.
However, Ma has said on several occasions he would not finalize his decision until the middle of next month.
Pundits have speculated that Ma would take over Wu’s seat, while Wu would head the Straits Exchange Foundation.
Wu said that the list of candidates for the party chairman election would not be revealed until candidate registration on June 15.
The KMT chairman election is scheduled for July.
Meanwhile, a number of KMT legislators of Hakka ethnicity yesterday rebutted speculation that they had formed an alliance to support Wu in his bid for re-election.
When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良) denied that he and other Hakka KMT lawmakers planned last night to push Wu to run.
However, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), one of the legislators, said it would be best if Wu could stay on as party chairman, adding that it would be a “big loss” if Wu retired.
The legislators were responding to a story by the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday that quoted an unidentified source as saying that a group of KMT legislators had voiced their opposition to Ma doubling as party chairman.
The story said a number of Hakka KMT legislators had determined to show their support for Wu during a gathering last night.
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