Vice Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏) said yesterday he will run for the presidency next year.
Expressing his disappointment with the nation's political scene, Chang said he would run for the presidency "to abolish presidential power."
Chang made the remarks at Grace THW Group president Winston Wang's (王文洋) new book presentation in Taipei yesterday.
On Oct. 25, Chang was sentenced to 11 years in prison for embezzling funds from Formosa Telecom Investment (
A former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, Chang was charged with violating breach of trust, the Business Accounting Law (
Commenting on the announcement, Justin Chou (周守訓), chief deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, said yesterday that "anyone with ideals is welcome to participate in the presidential race."
"But given the state of bipartisan politics in Taiwan, it will be very difficult for any `third force' [to win the election]," he said.
Chou said Chang's participation in the election would "more or less" influence KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) performance in the election, but that Ma would do his best to attract as many swing voters as possible.
He said Chang's participation in the election would have a stronger impact on DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
Chou was referring to Chang's having served as acting chairman of the DPP in 1996 and DPP secretary-general from 1988 to 1991.
Chang was also among those who were arrested and jailed following the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979, an anti-government demonstration organized by Formosa Magazine.
Both DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) and Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) yesterday wished Chang good luck.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
RSS