Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday passed the 30 percent threshold in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) three presidential primary polls yesterday, with an average approval rating of 46.203 percent.
Hung, who was the only contender, can now be nominated by the KMT to run in the presidential election in January next year.
She thanked her supporters during a news conference at the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
“This is only the first step,” Hung said, adding that she would move forward with greater confidence to secure the nomination.
Hung said she expects the KMT’s national party convention on Friday to formally pick her as the party’s presidential nominee and that a presidential election between two women would mark a new page in the development of democracy in Taiwan.
According to KMT sources, “hesitation and cowardice” by the so-called “KMT heavyweights” in failing to run in the primary drove party members to support Hung and helped her pass the primary poll threshold.
The polls were organized by three agencies — Trengo, Statinc and the United Daily News — each of which was required to collect more than 1,200 valid samples.
The polls measured Hung’s approval rating running alone and against Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The final results were an average of the two scenarios in the three polls.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the high approval rating demonstrated that Hung had wide support among the public.
“Hung’s insistence on throwing her hat into the ring and her position on the future of our party has encouraged many supporters. We are proud of her,” Hau said.
Hau said he would convene a meeting of the nomination and auditing committee tomorrow to confirm the outcome of the polls before submitting the results to the KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday.
Hung yesterday said political views, professional ethics and age would be important considerations when selecting a running mate.
Hung added that she has a rough idea about who she wants as her vice presidential candidate, but declined to elaborate any further.
Hung, 67, said she expects her running mate to be younger than her, have the same political views, a positive moral character, impeccable professional ethics and a background that complements her own.
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he is happy about the outcome of the primary and added that Hung’s nomination would be processed according to party rules.
According to Chu, Hung’s nomination would first be confirmed by the nomination committee and then submitted to the Central Standing Committee, which meets on Wednesdays, for approval.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would fully support whichever candidate the KMT nominates to run in the next presidential election, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday.
“As a member of the KMT, President Ma will extend his backing to the candidate nominated by the party,” Chen said.
If nominated by the KMT, Hung would run against Tsai, who lost the 2012 presidential race to Ma.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS