The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee yesterday decided to withdraw its nomination of Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) as its candidate for the year-end mayoral election amid bribery allegations and slipping public support.
It has not yet named a replacement for Huang, who was nominated in January to contest the November election.
Huang has been swept up in a corruption investigation after prosecutors last month alleged that he pressured city officials into allowing a developer to bypass regulations relating to a property development project in Keelung.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
The KMT committee yesterday approved the motion raised by four of its members, led by Taipei Mayor and KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
The motion said that although the Taiwan High Court denied the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office’s request to detain Huang, the allegations had greatly tarnished the ruling party’s image and reputation in the public’s eyes.
Multiple polling agencies have released figures indicating a rapid decline in Huang’s popularity among voters in the region, clearly showing how severely any ensuing legal proceedings involving the speaker would harm the party’s electoral efforts in Keelung, the motion read, adding that the KMT should deal with the situation by pulling Huang as its candidate in the mayoral race.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is also the party’s chairman, was quoted by sources as saying at the meeting that rescinding Huang’s candidacy was a painful decision, but one that had to be taken.
He added that if the party did not make the move, its image would be damaged further, impacting its campaigns not only in Keelung, but also in Taipei and New Taipei City.
Sources quoted some participants at the meeting yesterday as saying the decision invalidated Huang’s eligibility to run as an KMT candidate and had no bearing on whether the city speaker is guilty of the alleged crimes.
KMT spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) had previously tried to persuade Huang to drop out of the election during a telephone call, but Huang had declined, vowing to defend his integrity to the end.
Earlier yesterday, Huang responded to calls for the party to drop him for another candidate, saying that “a rose to an optimist displays its petals, and to a pessimist its thorns,” and pledging to do his best to win the mayorship.
As of press time yesterday, Huang had not commented on the KMT’s latest decision.
KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) said the committee’s decision was the right one to take as it showed Keelung residents that the party takes their opinions seriously.
He suggested that party members such as former National Immigration Agency director-general Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功), KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) — who was raised in Keelung — would make good replacements.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s Keelung mayoral candidate Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) commented on the matter by saying that no one from the KMT would be able to bring happiness to the residents Keelung.
Additional reporting by CNA
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