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KMT legislators call for party unity and tight lips

A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday call members of different factions within the party supporting either former chairman Ma Ying-jeou or Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng to stop fighting and promote party unity to ensure the KMT wins next year's presidential election. PHOTO: LO PEI-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday called for unity within the party to ensure victory in next year's presidential election.

At a press conference, KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) and her colleagues urged the KMT headquarters to tell party members to keep quiet on details about "any specific individual, faction or possible election candidates."

The party headquarters should also stop commenting on any personnel matters until the party has elected a new chairman, so as to guarantee cooperation among candidates, she said.

The party should also unite in response to attacks from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she said.

Lei said the KMT's supporters had been reading or watching news reports that told them the KMT was suffering from disunity.

Lei was referring to competition for the party's nomination for the presidential race between former party chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who announced his presidential bid last month, and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is considered one of the KMT's presidential hopefuls.

"Over the last weekend, most KMT legislators met with the KMT's grassroots supporters, who expressed their pessimism about the KMT's prospects for the 2008 presidential election."

Joanna Lei, KMT legislator

"Over the last weekend, most KMT legislators met with the KMT's grassroots supporters, who expressed their pessimism about the KMT's prospects for the 2008 presidential election," she said. "Therefore, KMT headquarters should do these things to respond to its loyal supporters."

KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who supported Lei's plea, urged KMT legislators to give their party members a chance in the race, instead of deciding who to support as a presidential candidate at this early stage.

All party members should support the party's final presidential candidate, she added.

Showing the press copies of Chinese-language newspapers yesterday, KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) urged Ma and Wang to discipline their staffers in a bid to prevent them from making comments to reporters that could cause conflict within the KMT.
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