The KMT's 210-seat Central Committee yesterday approved the party's slate of nominees for legislator-at-large amid complaints from committee members about their being treated as a "rubber stamp."
Each of the 41 recommended nominees passed ballots by Central Committee members without any surprising twists.
Topping the list of nominees are Legislative Yuan vice speaker Yao Eng-chi (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
A recommended nominee can only be screened out if over half of the Central Committee members vote against him. The order of the nominees will not be rearranged according to the number of approval votes they obtain.
This is the first time the KMT has let the Central Committee vote to decide the legislator-at-large nominees, which is part of the party's plan for internal democratic reform.
However, many outspoken lawmakers in attendance at the Central Committee meeting expressed strong opposition to the ballot rules which they say are undemocratic and give them little room to make changes to the list.
"We Central Committee members are here to serve simply as a rubber stamp," said legislator Chen Ching-pao (陳清寶).
Legislator Apollo Chen (
"Most people on the list are strangers to us, though none of them are our enemies. We don't know how are we going to exercise our right of veto," Chen said.
The 41 nominees were selected by the KMT's nomination review panels from a total of 130 contestants vying for the party's nomination. Only those who rank within the top 16 to 19 are considered likely to win seats, based on a forecast of the KMT's showing in the year-end legislative elections.
A total of 41 legislator-at-large seats are available, and they will be allocated to political parties according to their share of the vote in the constituency-based elections.
In addition to criticism of the ballot rules, reformists within the KMT expressed their disappointment that the party's nominees for legislator-at-large seats weren't innovative enough to renew its image.
"For the KMT, reform has yet to succeed," said Chen Feng-hsing (陳鳳馨), a Central Committee member and former KMT spokeswoman.
Chen said the party should have nominated more high-profile candidates to fill the legislator-at-large seats and win popular support for the KMT's legislative campaign.
Also, as Taiwan is facing its worst recession in decades, the KMT should have nominated as many economic professionals as possible, Chen said.
In response to these doubts, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"Today's event marks a very important milestone in the KMT's democratic development. In this process, we will learn how to make democratization more progressive," Lien said.
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