Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said that the party is to hold an extraordinary meeting today to adjust its list of legislator-at-large nominees for the Jan. 11 elections amid criticism over its rankings.
Furthermore, his place on the list would be moved down, Wu said on the sidelines of a ceremony of the Taiwan International Invention Award Winners’ Association in Taipei.
The KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday approved a 34-person list of at-large nominees.
Photo: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Taipei Times
Since its release, the list has been widely criticized for placing Wu in 10th place, which would almost certainly guarantee him a seat, as the party is expected to garner enough votes for the first 14 or 15 names.
It has also been criticized for including mostly older party members and several pro-unification figures, including former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), who was placed eighth, and retired lieutenant general and 800 Heroes for the Republic of China Association president Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), who was fourth.
KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) said the list showed that the party is unwilling to engage the younger generation, and is only interested in siding with conservative and extremely reactionary groups.
“The list shows no political ideals, no momentum and no energy,” Hsu wrote on Facebook.
KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) expressed concern that the list might cause the party to lose support.
The list “has disappointed Taiwanese and will cause us to lose votes,” Ko wrote on Facebook.
In Taoyuan, about a dozen KMT Taoyuan City councilors and Central Committee members held a news conference urging the KMT headquarters to move Wu Den-yih down the list and include more members who can represent the younger generation and minority groups.
If the party does not adjust its at-large nominees at the meeting today, Taoyuan City Councilor Huang Ching-ping (黃敬平), who is a member of the committee, said that he and many other committee members would veto their nominations at a committee meeting tomorrow.
KMT Taichung City Councilor Huang Hsin-hui (黃馨慧), Tainan City Councilor Tsai Yu-hui (蔡育輝), Kaohsiung City councilors Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭), Huang Hsiang-shu (黃香菽) and Chen Ruo-tsui (陳若翠), as well as other committee members, held news conferences in their cities urging the party to adjust the list.
Former premier Simon Chang (張善政), the KMT’s vice presidential candidate, said the list was “unable to meet people’s expectations.”
“There is also the option of the People First Party,” Chang told reporters in Taipei.
“Just do not vote for the Democratic Progressive Party,” he added.
Asked about Chang’s remarks, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, said that Chang has been an independent and is probably unfamiliar with the way in which political parties operate.
Earlier yesterday, Wu Den-yih had told party members protesting outside the headquarters that the list could not be changed.
That Wu Den-yih placed himself 10th shows that the KMT has no confidence that it can win more than half of the seats in the legislature, Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said, urging the chairman to move down to 15th.
“I would feel bad if I was at the top of the list, but in reality I had hoped to be placed eighth,” Wu Den-yih said.
While KMT chairpersons in the past ran for president, “considering my experience, would it have been too much even if I had sought the presidency?” he asked.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS