Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), who withdrew from the KMT before it officially expelled him on Wednesday, along with four other party members, yesterday said that there are always signs before a political party falls apart.
The KMT’s expulsion of five members on Wednesday, including Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟), who lost his legislative seat, as he represented the KMT as a legislator-at-large, has sparked discussion and criticism.
Chang said there are always signs before a party collapses, adding that the KMT not being able to tolerate dissent or different opinions and only wanting to defend mistaken policies has left many members feeling deeply disappointed.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“There are reasons the party made the move before July 19 [Sunday’s national congress], such as hoping to strengthen intra-party stability and prevent those who are against Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) [the KMT’s presumptive presidential candidate] from making a fuss during the congress,” Chang said.
“We will definitely not be the last batch [to leave the KMT],” he said. “There is another group [that will be leaving the party] after the national congress.”
In an interview with online news outlet China Review yesterday, Chang said that 13 KMT members, comprising elected representatives and legislators, as well as many local party members, have also expressed their intention to leave the party.
Chi yesterday said he is simply following his conscience by choosing to stand with the people.
“I tried to wake him up, afraid that he is crashing into an iceberg, but he got pissed off because I revealed the truth so he threw me off the ship. It was that simple,” Chi said.
When asked who was steering the ship, he said the captain and the chief officer are “the original version and the 2.0 version,” apparently referring to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) respectively.
Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), an Academia Sinica researcher who played a prominent role in the Sunflower movement and who is now a member of the New Power Party, said Chi, unlike KMT legislators like Alex Tsai (蔡正元), is one of the very few KMT legislators who want to reform the party.
“In the end, it was people like Chi who got ousted. Though the reasons given for the expulsion are absurd, and also suspected of being unconstitutional, it is really not a bad thing to leave the KMT as early as possible,” Huang said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday said that he felt sorry for Chi, since Chi has been a diehard KMT loyalist.
“Chi and I have been on the Internal Administration Committee together and I would describe him as a ‘diehard loyalist’ to the party, as he supported almost all the KMT’s policy proposals and defended the party when making appearances on political commentary shows,” Chen said. “I feel sorry for him because of what he has done for the party.”
Asked if the DPP would consider nominating Chi in the coming legislative election, Chen said that, since the DPP has completed its nomination for Chi’s constituency in Taichung, “it seems that there is not much space for cooperation.”
DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said that there could be some space for cooperation and that the party would not reject former members of other parties.
“We would hold a welcoming attitude toward those who decide to join the DPP, because they no longer agree with the party they used to be affiliated with,” Hsu said.
Additional reporting by Loa Lok-sin
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