Former Department of Health minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) lost the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) primary for the year-end local elections, the KMT announced yesterday, ending Yeh’s ambition to run for the county commissioner’s job in Hualien County.
The party’s telephone poll had former Hualien County Agricultural Development Office director Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) garner 54.47 percent of the support, while Yeh obtained 45 percent.
Yeh yesterday complained about the way the polls were conducted, saying it put him in an unfavorable position because pan-green supporters were included.
He attributed his defeat to a late start, saying that he did not have sufficient time to secure adequate support.
Yeh resigned from the health ministry on Aug. 3 amid mounting speculation that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wanted him to stand in the election. Yeh later came under fire when he quit amid the growing threat of a swine flu epidemic.
Yeh, 59, was appointed health minister in September last year after his predecessor, Lin Fang-yu (林芳郁), resigned amid the made-in-China melamine milk powder scandal. Yeh said that soon after assuming the position last year, he told the premier he did not intend to remain health minister for a long period.
Yeh yesterday said that he learned a lot from talking to the public during the campaign and he would be happy to assist Tu if she needed any help.
Yeh said he would continue to stay in Hualien to provide his services, at least until the end of this year. He did not say, however, if he would contest the election as an independent.
KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said yesterday the party would nominate the candidate in accordance with the poll result. He also urged other contenders to respect the outcome, adding that if anyone wished to “aggressively participate in the competition,” the party would communicate and persuade the person not to do so.
KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) has been evasive about whether he would run as an independent.
Fu has blasted the party for disqualifying him from the Hualien County commissioner primary and accused KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) of being behind the move.
Fu voiced his dissatisfaction after the party ignored the decision of its Hualien branch’s integrity committee and stopped Fu from taking part in the primary.
Fu was indicted on Feb. 2, 2000, for illegally speculating in Taiwan Pineapple Group shares in 1998.
In 2003, the Taipei District Court sentenced Fu to six years in jail, fined him NT$150 million (US$4.5 million) and deprived him of his civil rights for four years.
Fu filed an appeal with the Taiwan High Court, which sentenced him on June 11 to four years in jail and a fine of NT$20 million. Fu appealed again.
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