Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is to announce her decision on seeking a district legislative seat in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) today, her office said yesterday.
“Hung will let the public know her decision after giving the matter some serious thought,” spokesman Feng Yi-chao (馮怡超) said, adding that an article published by the Chinese-language online news platform SETN.com yesterday evening was unsubstantiated.
According to the article, Hung said in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Phoenix New Media yesterday afternoon that she would register as a candidate for a legislative seat representing Yonghe at 3pm today.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
When asked prior to the interview to confirm the rumors about her legislative bid, Hung told reporters: “You will know tomorrow [today].”
“Many people have advised me to run for a legislative seat, but this is a serious matter and I need to give it some thought,” Hung said, adding that her support rating in Yonghe topped that of KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) by 15 percent.
Hung said she would not accept a nomination by the KMT as a legislator-at-large candidate for the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, as it would require the party to amend its nomination regulations to exempt her from a self-imposed two-term limit on an at-large seat.
“I should be able to fight and win on my turf,” said Hung, whose second legislator-at-large term expires on Jan. 31.
Asked whether the KMT is worried about her potential bid, Hung said the party has endured all sorts of hardship and was unlikely to get nervous because of her.
Hung said that she and Lin were close acquaintances and that the issue of both of them running for the same seat would be handled with wisdom.
When asked about the possibility of seeking the KMT chairpersonship, Hung said it was too early to talk about the issue.
Separately, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he is confident that the KMT would retain its legislative majority in January’s elections.
“If it is hard for the KMT to win more than half of the legislative seats, it is equally hard for other parties,” Wang said as he led several KMT legislator-at-large candidates to register their candidacies at the Central Election Commission in Taipei. “At least the KMT will remain the largest party in the Legislative Yuan. I believe that.”
KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) said the party would not nominate another candidate to fill the vacancy left by Taiwan Petroleum Workers’ Union chairman Chuang Chueh-an (莊爵安), who forfeited his at-large nomination earlier this week because he was unhappy with the party’s slate of at-large legislators and his ranking on the list.
Lee said the party listed 33 people as candidates with the commission.
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