Amid a growing trend of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members “jumping ship,” party Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that those whose conduct runs contrary to party regulations during the run-up to next year’s presidential and legislative elections will be subject to disciplinary measures.
“The KMT requires wholehearted unity among party members, rather than someone who says one thing and does another,” Chu said at a morning public event in New Taipei City.
Chu made the remarks one day after Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) urged the KMT leadership to ascertain the real cause of division within the party, saying that paying lip service to party unity would be to no avail.
When asked to comment on the spate of members quitting or announcing plans to leave the party, Chu said the party has experienced its ups and downs during the nation’s democratization over the past two decades.
“There were always a handful of party members who would act differently at times,” Chu said. “I respect their behavior, because this is a democracy.”
However, “I firmly believe that the majority of members would stay united in the party’s hardest time and work for a better future,” Chu said.
As for members who have voiced support for non-KMT candidates, Chu said those who do so when the presidential campaign officially begins — regardless of which party they endorse — would be dealt with according to KMT rules.
According to the Central Election Commission’s schedule for the Jan. 16 elections, it is to accept registrations for candidates from Nov. 23 until Nov. 27.
It is not the first time Chu has called for unity among KMT members amid the plummeting support for the party and a gradual loss of public trust.
Several KMT members have dropped out of next year’s legislative elections or the party altogether in what has been termed a “wave of jumping ship,” including Legislators Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) and Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡), former legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) and Keelung City Councilor Yang Shih-cheng (楊石城).
Due to discontent over the party’s nomination of Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as its presidential candidate — who has been polling poorly — some pro-localization KMT members reportedly have plans to form a splinter group and inspire a bigger wave of defections.
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