Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to include cellphone-based polls in its presidential primary and eliminate candidates who have less than 5 percent support.
Gou made the suggestions during his meeting with the KMT’s presidential nomination panel at Hon Hai’s building in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
The panel visited Gou to inform him of primary regulations passed by the party’s Central Standing Committee last month and to confirm whether he would like to run in the primary.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Prior to meeting Gou, the panel met with five other potential or declared primary candidates: Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中).
Gou said that the KMT’s primary regulations are “incomplete,” and he hopes the party considers making improvements by adopting his suggestions.
“Building a structure is the first step to success. Without it, people cannot collaborate well,” he said.
To prevent conflict, the polls based on which the party would determine its final presidential candidate should avoid questions comparing KMT members with one another, Gou said.
Moreover, cellphone users should account for 50 percent of those interviewed, as that is how the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plans to conduct its polls, he said.
The party should hold three debates for its candidates and only allow party members with at least 5 percent support in the polls to enter the primary, he said.
Having too many candidates would make the debates and polls unnecessarily lengthy, he said.
The party should also establish a backup plan, in case the primary winner cannot complete the presidential race, he said.
Furthermore, it should form a team that cracks down on “irrational” supporters, holding them legally accountable, he said.
All primary candidates, regardless of whether they win the primary, should pledge to help the party win the presidential and legislative elections, he added.
Most of Gou’s suggestions are already covered in the regulations passed by the committee last month, but party candidates can discuss whether to introduce a 5 percent threshold, include cellphone polls or exclude poll questions comparing KMT candidates at a meeting next Tuesday, KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said.
If most primary candidates agree with the suggestions, they can propose them to the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, he said.
“As long as people think they would make the primary more fair and help unify the party, we would be willing to implement them,” he added.
The KMT is to announce its primary candidates on Monday.
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