KMT chiefs warned of desertions

Two KMT lawmakers yesterday pressed the party leadership to finalize its nomination quota for each legislative constituency before tomorrow's primary ballot, warning that failure to do so may lead to disputes between candidates and perhaps more party desertions.

Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said the lack of a definite nomination quota has seriously undermined the good intention of holding a primary, which could help avoid disputes in the nomination process. If the the KMT isn't careful and nominates too many people for a single constituency, the legislators said, KMT candidates could undermine their own support bases.

"The primary is now used to decide the sequence of the contestants only. Under this circumstance, people who have the lead will definitely want to keep the nomination quota as low as possible, but those who lag behind will wish to see a larger quota," Chen said.

The KMT is holding a primary to decide its nominees for elections for public office for the first time this year. Out of the 31 legislative constituencies around Taiwan, the KMT will hold primaries in 12 of them. None, however, has a quota for nominations.

Lawmakers also urged KMT leaders to coordinate with the People First Party (PFP) and the New Party -- the KMT's two allies in the year-end elections -- when deciding the quotas.

"We should be pragmatic and scientific and set the nomination quotas based on the affiliations of the voters and support rating of each party in each constituency," Ting said.

The power bases of the PFP and New Party overlap with the KMT as both are breakaways from the party.

Responding to the lawmakers concerns yesterday, Chao Shou-po (趙守博), chairman of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, said the party still needs to maintain some flexibility to cope with the particular situations in different constituencies before it announces its quotas.

Chao said a list of nominees would be available by next Wednesday at the earliest.

The legislative elections will be held in December along with elections for county commissioners and provincial municipalities.

Some KMT lawmakers are vying for the party's nomination in local government elections, which has also contributed to the delay of their registration for competing in the legislative race.