Several members of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Central Standing Committee yesterday lashed out at party chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
The Central Standing Committee was the KMT's decision-making body long before Ma began to hold the so-called "Chung Shan" meeting" with the party's vice chairmen and his close aides after assuming the chairmanship last year.
"It's time to examine the party's decision-making mechanism ... If the Central Standing Committee's influence is fading, then the party needs to make some adjustments," KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) said during the committee's weekly meeting yesterday at the KMT's headquarters.
Dissatisfied with the slow tempo of the committee, which he said often discussed outdated issues, Shuai asked the party to enhance the committee's mechanism to allow it to provide quick and efficient responses to current issues on behalf of the party, such as the recent spate of suicides related to financial difficulties and moves to oust the president.
"If the committee has no substantial functions, then the party should establish a new decision-making body," he added.
KMT legislators Hung Hsiu-chu (
"The Chung Shan meeting has become [Ma's] consulting body now," Hung said.
Hsu said that Ma's dependence on the opinions of the so-called "Ma troop," which refers to the chairman's top aides and followers, including KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), made it difficult for other committee members' voices to be heard.
Lin Huo-wang (
"The KMT chairman should be the chairman of all party members, instead of a certain group of people," he said.
In response, Ma assured his critics that there was no "Ma troop" in the KMT, adding that the committee was still the decision-making body, while the Chung Shan meetings were only "preliminary" discussions held prior to the committee's meeting.
"The [Chung Shan] meeting simply provided the vice chairmen with a chance to express their views as we talked about issues to be discussed in the committee," he said.
However, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
"The party is making last-minute changes to the committee's meeting time and agenda more often ... It's not a good sign," he said.
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