Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Hau Lung-bin's (
However, his embarrassing score in party member voting and a challenge from People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- who has said he intends to join the race -- have presented both Hau and the KMT with the daunting task of building pan-blue unity.
Hau won the primary with 59.68 percent support, surpassing his only rival, KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
"I returned to the KMT only four months ago, and so our camp had anticipated an inferior result for the party member vote. But I visited as many members as I could and the number of votes I received beat my expectations," Hau said, speaking after Saturday's primary.
After Hau switched from the New Party to the KMT in January to join the primary, he faced criticism for being a "political chameleon" -- both for leaving his old party and for previously accepting a post in the Democratic Progressive Party government, serving as head of the Environmental Protection Administration.
"Some grassroots supporters expressed doubts about Hau's political loyalty, and may end up shifting their support from the party's candidate to PFP Chairman Soong in the election," said KMT Taipei City Councilor Lin Ching-chang (
Lin said such concerns had not faded even after Hau's success in the primary. He warned that a failure to unite the pan-blue camp might lead to a repeat of the 1994 Taipei mayoral election, when two "pan-blue" candidates split the ticket and gave Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) a surprise victory.
Acknowledging the concerns, Hau has been visiting KMT Taipei City councilors as well as party legislators, seeking their support.
In response to Soong's suggestion that the KMT conduct a survey to decide whether he or Hau would be the best candidate for the pan-blue camp, Hau said that he was the KMT's legitimate mayoral candidate.
"It seemed to me that [Soong's] suggestion was `green room politics' [closed-door negotiations]. While I didn't get many votes among party members, I am the legitimate KMT candidate," Hau said on Tuesday during a visit to the KMT caucus.
PFP Spokesman Hsieh Kung-pin (
"Some KMT hopefuls questioned the fairness of the survey used in the KMT's primary. So, officials from the two parties need to negotiate an integrated nomination mechanism to decide on a final candidate," he said.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
"Now that the KMT has presented its nominee, we should negotiate with the PFP to reach a consensus on the [final] candidate. The pan-blue camp can't afford a split," he said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Political analysts said that Hau would ultimately win pan-blue voters' support despite Soong's challenge.
"I think voters will accept any candidate as long as he goes through a fair nomination mechanism," said Wang Yeh-li (
Political critic Liao Da-chi (
"He should instead devote himself to fighting for more seats for PFP city councilors if he doesn't want to see any more of his party members leave," she said.
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