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Ma urges party to unite as members bicker over seats

Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator (KMT) Chang Sho-wen, left, and his father give the thumbs-up sign yesterday after his supporters presented him with a horse to symbolize success during the inauguration of his campaign headquarters in preparation for the legislative elections in January. PHOTO: CNA

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged party members not to let the "319 shooting incident" divide the party before the elections and said he would reopen the investigation if elected.

The term refers to the March 19, 2004, assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).

In response to some KMT members' lingering suspicions that his top aide, Steve Chan (詹啟賢), was connected to the incident, Ma reiterated his supported for Chan and urged party members not to waste any more time on the issue.

Chan is the former dean of Chi Mei Hospital, where Chen and Lu were treated after the shooting. Several KMT members believe the shootings were staged to help Chen and Lu win sympathy votes, and suspect that Chan helped to perpetrate the hoax by forging medical reports.

"If the KMT regains power in 2008, of course I would like to reopen the case and find out the truth. But I don't want the incident to cause a split in the party, especially as the elections are approaching," Ma told a press conference at Taiwan Storyland in Taipei.

Chan on Thursday expressed his regret over the party's decision not to include him on the legislator-at-large candidate list because of suspicions over his connection to the incident and offered to leave Ma's campaign team if those suspicions persist.

Ma yesterday declined to comment on the impact of Chan's failure to be included on the list, but admitted that Chan, a well-known figure in the south and the medical world, thought he would be able to solicit more votes for Ma if he were chosen as a legislator-at-large.

"I don't know whether or not it would help my campaign if Chan was a legislator-at-large. What I am sure about is that he will remain my crucial aide during the campaign," he said.

Ma also denied having any knowledge about the names on the list before the KMT announced it on Wednesday and acknowledged that the list failed to include some fresh faces from academia or industry with good reputations in society.

"A list that is not decided by a poll is bound to cause dispute. It's a cruel reality that we had to face when the legislative seats were cut in half. It's easy to be idealistic, but useless when [ideas] are far removed from reality," he said.

More than 90 percent of the KMT's selection for the top 18 legislator-at-large candidates, those likely to win seats, are incumbent legislators.

Meanwhile, KMT caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (郭素春), who ranked 16th in the lineup, called on KMT members to stay united and show more tolerance amid the lineup controversy.

"Chairman Wu had said that not everyone would be satisfied with the lineup once the list was publicized," Kuo said when asked for comment.

"Even God cannot come up with a perfect list," Kuo said.

KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said that "those who were not included in the lineup should place the party's victory over their own."

Additional reporting by Flora Wang
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