When Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) announced in February that he had asked to rejoin the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), there was a sense that change was afoot within the party.
His announcement signaled a range of developments.
First, the New Party that he had cofounded in 1993 was officially regarded as a failed proposition by pro-unification, deep-blue elements.
Second, there was growing frustration and dissatisfaction within the KMT establishment in party Chairman Johnny Chiang’s (江啟臣) leadership and reform agenda.
Third, there was a profound desire within the party to find a charismatic leader with a strong vision that cohered with powerful factions within the KMT, such as the Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興). Such a leader was needed to fill the vacuum created by Chiang and established, middle-generation figures such as former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) now that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who had vision, but was not favored by the deeper-blue elements, is no longer considered a viable candidate to take the party forward.
The Jaw revolution did not happen, or at least it has not yet happened. Chiang welcomed him back into the party, but closed the door to his aspirations to run for party chairman.
Jaw was invited to join the KMT Central Advisory Committee, but told that he was not qualified to run for party chairman or as the KMT’s 2024 presidential candidate. He had since been largely quiet on the political scene — at least outside of his TV shows — until Thursday last week. Accompanied by legislators and city and county councilors, most of whom were KMT members, Jaw announced at a news conference the establishment of a group called the “blue fighters.” Commentators are predicting that the group would become one of the largest, and therefore most influential, factions within the KMT.
Jaw envisions the “blue fighters” bringing together legislators, academics and civic groups in creating a more united front in getting the KMT’s message across, providing checks and balances on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration and unifying the party. He has refuted suggestions that his intention is to resurrect the New Party, saying that his affiliation with that party ended 30 years ago and he is focused on today’s KMT.
In a show of unity, Chiang has given the new group his blessing, saying that anything that contributes to party unity and drives the party agenda forward is to be welcomed.
Chiang said the group is not “a party within a party,” nor is it a faction within the KMT and that it does not belong to Jaw, it belongs to the party. He added that it is a surge in the KMT’s fighting spirit that is needed to effectively provide oversight on the DPP, and to win in next year’s legislative elections and the 2024 presidential election.
In the midst of the KMT chairperson race, Chiang is implicitly acknowledging his own failure to lead the party to unity, in its responsibility as an opposition party to provide effective checks and balances on the governing party, and in its duty to communicate its vision to the electorate.
He is also allowing Jaw, whom he has blocked from standing for party chairman or presidential candidate, to essentially pull the strings in the background and do his job for him. This is not a good look for a party leader seeking re-election.
In the chairperson race, the two frontrunners — Chiang and Chu — have been throwing red meat to the deep-blue party members, presumably hoping to bring the party more in line with wider public sentiment once they have won.
That is not going to be easy if Chiang is inept enough to allow Jaw to drag the whole party apparatus further into deep-blue territory.
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