Mon, Apr 06, 2015 page3

• KMT reverts to earlier policy platform on Web site

  POST-MA POSITIONING: Members of the party said that the change was due to the mention of nuclear power, which could be a topic of contention in next year’s elections

  • By Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporter
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  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) policy guidelines passed during President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) term as party chairman have been removed from the its Web site after a redesign.

  The KMT recently had its official Web site overhauled, with the most attention-grabbing alternation being changes to the party platform section — the political guidelines followed by the party.

  The policy guidelines passed by the 19th party congress in 2013, when Ma was chairman, have been replaced with a version passed by the 18th party congress, which took place in 2009. The shift to an older version of the party’s platform has set off speculation.

  The largest difference between the two versions of the party’s platform lies in its energy policy. Due to incumbent KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) goals of denuclearization and a “nuclear-free homeland,” many argue that the Ma administration’s approaches of stable nuclear reduction, and low-carbon and sustainable development, as stated in the 19th party congress, are no longer acceptable to the party under Chu’s leadership.

  Critics say that the KMT and Ma’s administration have taken diverging paths, and that the change could be preparation for the forthcoming presidential election campaign, which will likely touch on the issue of nuclear energy.

  The KMT revises its party platform every four years, and usually has a policy guideline research team make a first draft for subsequent revisions by party representatives and special committees. The KMT Central Standing Committee and party congress then need to approve the revised draft, which becomes the party’s policy guidelines for the next four years.

  The KMT charter stipulates that the subsequent Central Standing Committee should pursue policy in line with its party congress. For example, the 19th Central Standing Committee should be following the resolutions of the 19th party congress. However, the current party platform presented on the Web site is dated Oct. 17, 2009, which means the current Central Standing Committee is no longer following guidelines from its partner party congress.

  The fourth item in the platform approved by the 19th congress relates to national land use planning and creating a sustainable environment, saying that the party is to “push for a diverse energy policy, develop renewable energy sources, ensure safe nuclear power plant operation, steadily reduce nuclear power and move toward a low-carbon and sustainable homeland.”

  Some party members have speculated that mention of nuclear power, even with a stated goal of reducing its contribution to the nation’s energy supply, runs contrary to Chu’s promise of creating a nuclear-free Taiwan, and resulted in the adoption of the previous set of policy guidelines, which only mentions the creation of a clean-energy economy and low-carbon initiatives.
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