The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said it would next week discuss a proposal by NPP caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) to nominate a presidential candidate.
The proposal states that the party should determine whether to nominate a candidate for the presidential election in January next year by debating it at a national convention.
Nominating a presidential candidate would help the party’s long-term development and better meet the expectations of its supporters, the proposal says.
“The NPP’s top priority is to ensure Taiwan’s sovereignty, democracy and freedom,” the party said in a statement.
The party is keeping “an open mind” regarding how that would be achieved and would discuss opinions on the matter, the party said.
Although the proposal was submitted to the NPP’s decisionmaking committee last week, Hsu originally brought up the idea as early as April, well before a protest on Sunday against China’s manipulation of Taiwanese media, the NPP said.
As no committee meetings have been scheduled for this week, the proposal would be discussed next week, it said.
The committee last week decided that the NPP should apply a consistent standard to all presidential candidates after each party completes its presidential nomination process, the party said.
“One thing is certain — the NPP will never support a candidate who does not identify with its core values, such as those taking a pro-China stance on the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty,” it said.
Meanwhile, NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) reiterated that he would not run for president.
He had learned from his friends that rumors are circulating about what he would do next, the former NPP chairman said on Facebook.
“Please stop spreading rumors. I have no intention of joining the presidential race next year and will not do that,” he wrote.
As he is not a member of the committee and is no longer responsible for party affairs, he is not involved in the party’s planning for the election, Huang wrote.
He will respect the committee’s decisions and proposals from members, he added.
Regarding his plans, he said he is focused on the Legislative Yuan’s provisional session and would inform the public of his next step after consulting a number of people.
Sunday’s protest was an effort by people from across party lines and did not belong to any political party or individual, Huang added.
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