Ahead of a decision expected today on the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination rules, the party’s lawmakers yesterday initiated a signature drive demanding that the nominee be determined by public opinion polls.
The petition, led by KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), has earned support from Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who so far is the only KMT member to declare an intent to run for president in January next year.
KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰), described by KMT sources as being close to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is widely expected to run for office, also supported Lee’s initiative.
Photo: CNA
The proposed nomination rules suggest that party member votes count for 30 percent of a candidate’s total score and public opinion polls contribute 70 percent.
It is to be submitted for approval at the party’s Central Standing Committee today.
In his petition, Lee enumerated several advantages of a nomination system based entirely on public opinion polls, saying that it would be simple, time and cost efficient, and better reflect the public’s desires in choosing the party’s candidate.
With a weighting of 30 percent based on results of a primary, candidates would have to mobilize party members to vote and complex problems could ensue, Lee said, adding that the system will “do no good to party unity.”
If the nomination system is finalized today, those who want to register for the KMT’s primary can sign up starting on Wednesday next week to collect the signatures required to cross the threshold — 5 percent of its about 349,000 party members — within a month.
The primary will take place in early June if more than two candidates meet the threshold.
Meanwhile, on a Facebook page Hung recently created, she yesterday released a video titled “Someone must step forward,” in which she said that she was mainly driven to take part in the primary by the need to “rekindle the public’s passion for the KMT.”
“How come people view the KMT today in a way different than in the past? Is it because the spirit upon which the party was created has disappeared, because the KMT has been faithless to its ideas or because it has fallen out of touch with the people?” Hung asked.
Hung said she would clarify the ideals to which the KMT has been committed and the direction it would lead the nation during her campaign to regain the public’s faith in the party.
“In adversity, people must persistently move forward to find a way out,” she said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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