Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢), who on Monday announced a bid for the party chairperson election in May, said he would be running for president in 2020 as party chairman if elected.
In a radio interview yesterday, Chan said he believes it would be best for the KMT to have the next party chairperson run for president.
“Leading the party and the election campaign at the same time would be the most effective campaign tactic and the same goes for the local elections next year,” he said, adding that the party’s image and the chairperson’s behavior would influence its prospects in next year’s local elections.
Asked about calls within the KMT for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) to run for president on the KMT ticket in 2020, Chan denied that it was a call from within the party, but said the call arose from “talk in society.”
He has not discussed the issue with Gou, Chan said, but added that Gou had once jokingly told Chan that he had no idea why he is being linked to a presidential bid.
Chan said he knows he will have to fulfill certain requirements and meet qualifications to secure the party’s presidential nomination, but he wants to “make his stance clear” on his intention to run for president.
Being a vice presidential candidate “is not an option for me,” he said, amid rumors he might partner with Gou.
Chan said he would play a supporting role if Gou won the nomination, but not as a vice presidential candidate.
Chan said it was not worth worrying about the possibility of chairperson votes being divided between himself and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) — with the pair considered part of the “local” faction up against KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) mainlander faction.
Chan challenged the notion of factions even existing, saying that people seem to have a different definition for what they are made up of.
He said there is no division along “local” and “mainlander” lines, nor along “independence” and “unification” idealogies.
Some might be categorized as “local,” but have had conflict with the Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) branch — made up of military veterans and their relatives — because of personal reasons, he said, adding that while the KMT used to be an inclusive and diverse party in which all endeavored to construct Taiwan under the same ideals, now factions harbor animosity toward each other.
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