A number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday laughed off a proposal by a member of the party's Central Disciplinary Committee that first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) run for party chairwoman.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said the proposal was “creative” but “unfeasible.”
“Certainly the first lady has a very good public image, but she would not be interested [in running for KMT chairwoman],” he said.
KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) said although Chow was competent enough to run for chairwoman, he believed it would be a bad idea to have the first lady double as head of the party.
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said Chow was unlikely to compete for the position “given her [low-profile] personality.”
“Plus, she does not have any experience in handling party affairs. She would be put in a difficult position if she served as party chairwoman,” Hung said.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said he was surprised to learn of the proposal.
“But in the KMT, anyone can run for chairperson as long as he or she has leadership and bears the people's interests in mind,” Chang said.
The lawmakers were responding to a proposal initiated by KMT Central Disciplinary Committee member Wu Chun (吳駿) during the committee's meeting on Sunday.
Wu told reporters he made the recommendation because unlike the party's previous chairmen, Chow had never been involved in power wrangling and would be a good candidate to push reforms.
Wu said he had submitted the proposal to the committee only to learn at the meeting that his proposal was not included in the meeting's agenda.
He said the KMT dropped his proposal for fear that the media might become preoccupied with the issue.
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