The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday it would accelerate its nomination process for Sinbei City and Greater Taichung and announce the nominees in the two cities ahead of schedule as several hopefuls agreed to drop out after negotiations.
Taichung County Council Deputy Speaker Chang Chuang-hsi (張壯熙), KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) and Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠) have all agreed to withdraw from the November race, and the KMT is now likely to skip the polls and directly name the only remaining candidate, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), as the party’s nominee.
“The election situation is constantly changing, and the sooner we finish the nomination process the better. There’s a great chance that we will announce the nominees for Sinbei and Taichung ahead of schedule,” KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) said.
The KMT began conducting polls in Taipei City, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung yesterday and will continue today. It will also launch a second round of negotiations to finalize the party’s nomination for those elections based on poll results.
As no party member has expressed an intent to run in Sinbei City, the party will nominate Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫).
King declined to comment on proposals from some Democratic Progressive Party members that the party should nominate former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as its candidate in Taichung, saying that the KMT will follow its own strategy in seeking to win the elections.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋), who is competing against Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) for the Taipei City nomination, continued to question the transparency of the process yesterday, saying he was more than willing to confront King face to face on the issue.
Yang said the KMT had failed to inform him of the questions to be asked a week before the polls and urged King to explain the matter more clearly.
King urged party members to refrain from making groundless accusations.
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