Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is said to have halted campaign activities last week to express her anger over an alleged KMT bid to topple the Cabinet and desynchronize the legislative and presidential elections scheduled for January.
The KMT caucus yesterday denied the speculation.
KMT caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said the rumor was unfounded and rejected the Next Magazine report claiming that he had been covertly calling on KMT lawmakers’ support for tabling a vote of no confidence in Premier Mao Chi-kuo’s (毛治國) Cabinet.
Photo: CNA
The report alleged the KMT’s plan to “replace” Hung had become a plan to “abandon” her, with KMT lawmakers proposing to topple the Cabinet as soon as the new legislative plenary session begins on Tuesday so that the legislative election could take place at the end of November rather than alongside the presidential election in January.
The report said that KMT lawmakers were afraid that the synchronization of the two elections, together with Hung’s poor electoral prospects, would cost them their seats.
The proposed move, along with reports that the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland decided to stop financially supporting Hung, reportedly made her frustrated and upset.
Contrary to what the magazine claimed, Lin said that he had never heard of or been informed about such a plan.
“The [rumor] about a Cabinet overthrow has always been there. It is really not a big deal,” KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said that it had been brought up on various occasions, but no one was serious about it.
“It might be that a few legislators got pissed off by certain issues and blurted it out, and [it] got over-interpreted,” she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said he doubted whether a no-confidence vote would be possible.
“Would someone explain to me the logic behind KMT lawmakers wanting to have a no-confidence vote on a KMT Cabinet?” he said. “What does the KMT think about such an idea that is a slap in the face for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Mao Chi-kuo only to disconnect the [presidential and legislative] elections? What’s the [KMT] caucus’ thoughts on it? What would Hung think?”
Ker said there is not enough time to organize a no-confidence vote and there is no guarantee that Ma would agree to move the legislative election earlier even if the Cabinet resigned.
“It is the KMT’s own problem to solve and we would see how we may benefit from it should the proposal make it to the legislative floor,” Ker said.
Meanwhile, Next Magazine was not the only media outlet that claimed support for Hung from Taiwanese business groups in China has been diminishing.
A report in the Chinese-language United Daily News cited some Taiwanese businesspeople in China as saying that many believe that an opposition victory in the presidential election is “a foregone conclusion” and do not want to return to the nation to vote.
Hung brushed off the rumor that the KMT wants to abandon her by overthrowing the Cabinet, adding that overseas Taiwanese businesspeople, including those in China, are “fairly keen” to return to Taiwan to vote.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
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