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KMT splits with PFP over Keelung mayoral candidate

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) are poised to battle it out in the upcoming Keelung mayoral by-election, despite their efforts to collaborate.

The two parties originally planned to form an alliance and jointly endorse one candidate for the election.

The candidate, according to the plan, was to be decided by a poll, as both KMT Keelung City Council Speaker Chang Tong-rong (張通榮) and PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) intended to run.

However, a dispute over the poll results ended in the KMT-PFP alliance falling apart.

The poll result released by the KMT on Tuesday showed that Chang was leading Liu by 4.9 percent. However, Liu disputed its accuracy.

"It's cheating; the polling method wasn't approved by the PFP as we agreed earlier," Liu said.

Despite Liu's protest, the KMT's Central Standing Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, decided to endorse Chang during its weekly meeting yesterday.

"Polls conducted by companies recommended by both the KMT and the PFP showed that Chang is leading Liu. Therefore, according to the KMT-PFP agreement, we have decided to endorse [Keelung City Council] Speaker Chang Tong-rong to run in the coming Keelung mayoral election," KMT spokesman Su Jin-ping (蘇俊賓) told the media.

Nevertheless, Liu has expressed his determination to run.
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