Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday expressed “gratitude and apologies to those who have high expectations” of him, saying that he is not able to shoulder a “weighty mission,” which has been interpreted as him announcing he will not contest the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary.
Wang called for party unity, saying “an individual’s honor or humiliation is a trivial matter.”
“The solidarity of the KMT is not a question for one person or a party calculation, but for all Taiwanese and the continuation of the Republic of China,” Wang said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Taiwan is now deeply embroiled in tumult and distress, and only when the ruling party shows unity can society’s rift be stopped,” he said. “[I] will act as a seed of solidarity for our future generations.”
“The election is a one-time thing. We cannot damage our soft power for the sake of winning it,” he said.
KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰), who has long been regarded as pro-Wang, backed the speaker on his call for solidarity.
“The speaker did not pick up the application [for the party’s primary] in order to secure party solidarity, the stability of the nation and the stable development of cross-strait relations,” Lu said. “We respect his decision.”
When asked whether the emphasis on solidarity indicated that there has been disharmony within the party or that Wang had faced pressure from party members, Lu said: “[We] have a clear sense of it [while it was not made explicit]. For [the party’s] solidarity, what needs to be done is to gnash the teeth and swallow any broken ones.”
“For the sake of solidarity, the humiliation and burden that needed to be borne has to be borne,” Lu added, implying that Wang’s aspirations have been suppressed. “This is my personal view though. We should give credit to the speaker for discerning right from wrong.”
Speculation has been rife that Wang did not join the primary because of obstruction from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who has signed up for the primary, said that rumors had been deliberately spread by unidentified sources, “making some who had intended to join the primary back out.”
“Wang’s statement could be seen as conveying what he has felt recently,” Hung said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that “solidarity” — which was mentioned five times in Wang’s three-minute statement — was directed at Ma because “both the rhetoric of solidarity and how it is ‘not for one person’s benefit’ was a slap in Ma’s face.”
Chen said that in Wang’s statement, there was no wording that said he was “not running for president.”
Meanwhile, as the primary is set to take place without any senior KMT members participating, with KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) having declared they do not intend to run, the possibility of the KMT using its “draft” mechanism has become more likely.
“It would not look good if we have to resort to a draft, but if that is what has to be done, then a draft it is,” KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Hung said that the KMT, “especially Chu, would not be able to bear the pressure if a draft was used, as it would set tongues wagging and draw condemnation from the public, affecting next year’s presidential and legislative election campaigns, and causing the party to crumble.”
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
RSS