Despite persistently denying he is interested in running for president next year, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) is still regarded by many party members and supporters as the most desirable candidate.
The calls for the New Taipei City mayor to take part in the KMT’s primary have not faded, despite his public refusals, and have intensified since he returned from a trip to China earlier this week.
With only nine days left for hopefuls to sign up for the KMT primary, several KMT legislators were reportedly planning to urge caucus staff and lawmakers to meet with Chu to urge him to run.
Caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) denied the report, but said it is true that various KMT lawmakers have been trying to arrange a meeting with Chu.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that during the trip to China for the KMT-Chinese Communist Party forum, he had asked KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) about arranging for a meeting to talk to Chu about running for president.
“Chu will probably not be available until next week, when I will report to the chairman and arrange a meeting for the lawmakers to talk about not only the election, but also party affairs,” Lee said.
However, not all KMT lawmakers are enthusiastic about a Chu candidacy in the primary.
“The call would not be a resolution of the KMT caucus as a whole,” Legislator Chiang Hui-chen (江惠貞) said.
Given that some lawmakers back Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) as a candidate, the caucus should not make any resolution on the support for a potential candidate at this stage in case it leads to divisions within the party, Chiang said.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who has registered for the KMT primary, said Chu has told her that he “is occupied by too many things to enter the presidential race.”
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