Unhappy with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) election tactics, former KMT legislative nominee Tu Wen-sheng (涂文生) quit his position as a KMT Central Committee member and said he would not help the party ahead of the January elections.
Although the KMT party headquarters was shocked by Tu’s reaction and returned his resignation letter at the end of last month, Tu remains committed to his decision.
“Why should I be a committee member when the party doesn’t want me?” Tu said, adding that he was shown disrespected.
Looking to make inroads in electoral districts in the central and southern parts of the country in the January legislative elections, the KMT began asking for local leaders to provide a fresh faces to run in the election for Chiayi County’s second electoral district against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Chen Ming-wen (陳明文).
High-level party officials spared no effort in trying to persuade Tu to participate in the elections and after KMT Secretary-General Liao Liao-yi (廖了以) met with Tu, he agreed to participate.
A source with knowledge of the situation said Tu had begun putting together a campaign team when party headquaters suddenly nominated cable TV anchorperson Chen Yi-chen (陳以真) at the beginning of last month as the KMT nominee.
Not only was Tu replaced, he also was not notified beforehand of the possible replacement, the source said, adding that Tu tendered his letter of resignation last month.
Although KMT headquarters in Chiayi were instructed to return the resignation letter at the end of this month, Tu has rejected the return, the source said.
Tu reportedly told senior party officials who went down south to meet him that he was “annoyed with party central monkeying around with me,” adding that he would not help the party with its election efforts.
Learning that Tu was upset, Chen organized a meeting with Tu and sought to convince him to help with the elections, the source said, adding that the two were “stiffly formal” throughout the meeting, showing that reconciliation was still a distant goal.
Party officials would not confirm nor deny Tu’s resignation as a Central Committee member, saying they would continue to mediate between factions and consolidate forces to win the elections.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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