Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) lost the party’s legislative primary to Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the son of former KMT vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), by more than 10 percentage points.
The KMT yesterday released primary poll numbers for Taipei’s third electoral district, which covers Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts.
Lo, 44.624 percent of support, lost the primary to Chiang Wan-an, who held 55.376 percent.
Photo: CNA
Lo beat John Chiang in the party’s 2011 legislative primary by a small margin.
When reporters called his victory “the prince’s revenge,” Chiang Wan-an said that joining the race was his own decision, adding: “There is no such thing as a prince’s revenge.”
Lo thanked her supporters, saying the loss was "God’s will to allow her finally to rest. "
“I have not let my constituency down in the past seven years, having worked to amend laws related to people’s daily lives. I hope that I could be remembered,” she said.
She then accused the Want Want China Times Group of “systematically going after her by mudslinging and spreading rumors” because of her earlier opposition to the group’s acquisition of China Network Systems (中嘉網路).
“Who would dare tell the truth about this media group and do the right thing in the future?” she asked.
When asked whether she would run for the legislature as a non-KMT candidate, Lo said she “has much love for the KMT,” without elaborating.
Separately yesterday, KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) called on the party center to revise the party charter to have Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) remain in the legislature as a legislator-at-large.
“It is possible for party representatives, central standing committee members or [KMT] legislators to initiate the [charter-amending] mechanism before the party congress set to take place on July 19,” Liao said.
“It would be a good combination for the KMT to secure the victory, with [KMT Chairman] Eric Chu (朱立倫) joining the 2016 presidential election and Wang staying in the legislature,” Liao added.
The KMT party charter states that a legislator-at-large could be re-elected only once. While having many years of legislative experience, Wang is currently serving his second term as a KMT legislator-at-large.
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