Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) yesterday announced she would seek the party’s legislative nomination, sparking speculation about a possible pan-blue split as she faces two other KMT contenders.
According to polls conducted in Neihu (內湖) and -Nankang (南港) districts, the results of which were released by the KMT’s Taipei City branch, Lee was the only party member registered for the nomination who achieved the nomination threshold of 30 percent, with 45 percent support.
Lee thanked the KMT for following the nomination procedures at a press conference and expressed her determination to run for the party in the legislative election.
THREE’S A CROWD
However, Lee’s nomination remained uncertain as KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and People First Party (PFP) Taipei City Councilor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) also intend to run in the legislative election.
The KMT suspended Tsai’s party membership in March after he was found guilty trial of the alleged embezzlement of company funds during his term as Central Motion Pictures Corp chairman.
Tsai said yesterday that he respected the party’s nomination process, but insisted he planned to run regardless.
Lee yesterday urged Tsai to consider the big picture and said she expected the party to observe the poll results.
PARTY UNITY
“The KMT and the pan-blue camp cannot afford a split during the elections and hopefully all party members will unite to fight this battle,” she said.
Huang, on the other hand, said the KMT should start negotiations with the PFP regarding nominees for the electoral district.
The KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee director Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party had already began negotiations in districts with more than two contenders and those would continue until the nomination list was completed.
The KMT completed the first phase of legislative nomination on April 20 with the nomination of 40 candidates. It will release the second-phase nomination list on Wednesday and complete the nomination process on May 21.
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