KMT lawmaker demands probe into party primary

"It was an unfair election and I demand that the party investigate whether the 5,000 people are really party members."

-- Lee Ching-hua, five-term KMT legislator

After failing to secure a legislative nomination, Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), a five-term Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, yesterday called into question the legitimacy of the party's primary system.

Lee lost to rookie KMT Legislator Chang Chin-chung (張慶忠) in the first stage of the KMT's legislative primary, which finished on Saturday and determined 10 legislative nominees for 10 districts out of a total of 73 single-member districts.

Chang won the primary because he had recruited more than 5,000 supporters to apply for KMT membership and the party turned a blind eye to his actions, Lee told a press conference yesterday.

Showing a list of KMT party members in his constituency, Jhonghe district (中和), Lee said that approximately 2,000 to 3,000 names on the list showed different addresses but the same telephone or cellphone numbers.

Lee said he had handed over the list to the party weeks ahead of the primary, but the party only canceled the voting rights of 54 people.

"It was an unfair election and I demand that the party investigate whether the 5,000 people are really party members," Lee said.

Chang rebutted Lee's accusation, calling it "nonsense."

Meanwhile, in Hsinchu, KMT Legislator Ko Chun-hsiung (柯俊雄) also lost his primary competition to Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), who left the People First Party last December to join the KMT.

Ko said he would insist on running in the year-end legislative election.

Former KMT chairman and presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said the party regulations stated that legislative hopefuls should support those who won the primary, adding that he would not campaign for anyone who joined the election without the party's nomination.

"We hope those who don't win the primary will continue to support party candidates ... I will not campaign for them if they insist on entering the election without a nomination," he said yesterday while attending an event in Taipei County.

Ma denied he had supported some candidates who had used campaign billboards bearing Ma's signature.

"I never authorized any hopefuls to use my signatures ... Those who lost the primary should admit their failure," he said.

KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday urged Lee and Ko to hand over documents to the party for investigation into Lee's allegations.

Su also said that the party could take disciplinary action against anyone who insisted on entering the legislative election without having received the party's nomination.

"The KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee will handle the disputes and we expect everyone to calm down before the investigation results are out," Su said.

KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) is expected to meet with PFP counterpart Chin Ching-sheng (秦金生) on Thursday and discuss KMT-PFP joint nominations for the legislative election.