New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday said that he is not interested in running for president after the party on Wednesday announced that it is drafting regulations to enlist him in next year’s presidential election.
NPP Secretary-General Wu Pei-yun (吳佩芸) said in a statement on Wednesday that the party is drafting regulations for nominating its presidential candidate and would prioritize enlisting Huang in the presidential election.
Huang said that he knew nothing about the matter, adding that since stepping down as party chairman in February, he is no longer a member of the decisionmaking committee.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Asked if he would consider running for president, Huang said: “I am not interested [in running] and that is not on my to-do list.”
He reiterated that his current priorities are to complete his job as a legislator and promote reforms in Taiwan, he said.
Wu had made the announcement before the proposal was formally discussed at the NPP decisionmaking committee, Miaoli County Councilor Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學) said on Facebook yesterday.
Despite being a member of the committee, he, like Huang, had heard nothing about the matter, Tseng said.
Party regulations mandate that the drafting of nomination regulations must be initiated by the nomination panel and confirmed by the decisionmaking committee, he said, adding that it should not be initiated by the secretary-general.
He had just submitted to the committee an official proposal to discuss whether the NPP should nominate its own presidential candidate next year, Tseng said.
“The party must first reach a conclusion on that question, instead of engaging in meaningless political manipulations,” he said.
Committee member Hsiao Hsin-cheng (蕭新晟) also criticized the party for bypassing the committee in the drafting of presidential nomination regulations.
“When members of the decisionmaking committee are excluded from the party’s decisionmaking process, we might as well quit,” he said.
The lack of transparency in the party could cause members to leave, he added.
NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) is insistent on nominating Huang, but the latter is apparently unwilling, he said.
The drafting of nomination rules is simply part of the process to build a more complete party system for elections, Wu said.
“We can draft the regulations first and think about possible candidates later,” she added.
While Huang appears to be against the idea, Wu said they would communicate with the former chairman on the matter later.
Hsu last week said that if the NPP is to nominate its own presidential candidate next year, party headquarters would consider drafting Huang.
Hsu also said that the idea was not yet a formal proposal and that Huang would have to be persuaded into accepting the arrangement.
Additional reporting by CNA
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