Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), the party’s newly chosen presidential candidate, yesterday said he planned to establish a system where no term limits were imposed on KMT lawmakers who serve as speaker of the Legislative Yuan.
Chu gave interviews to several radio stations on the first day of his three-month leave from his job as New Taipei City mayor to concentrate on his presidential bid.
One of Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) radio show host Lan Shuan’s (蘭萱) questions was about about a possible re-election bid by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is now in his third term as a KMT legislator-at-large.
Photo: CNA
“Current KMT regulations stipulate that legislators-at-large can only serve two terms, although those who have made special contributions to the party, meet the needs of the party and have served as legislative speaker, are eligible for re-election,” Chu said.
“However, I intend to create a system where a KMT legislative speaker who is neutral and objective would not be subject to such term limits,” he added.
The KMT Central Standing Committee in October 2011 approved changes to the party’s nomination rules for legislators-at-large specifically aimed at allowing Wang to continue serving as speaker if the KMT retained its legislative majority in the 2012 elections. KMT rules had previously limited its at-large legislators to just two terms.
Wang first became speaker in 1999.
When asked for a comment on Chu’s statement, Wang said: “Let nature takes its course. Thank you.”
In an interview with Hit FM radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻), Chu promised to step down as KMT chairman if he loses the Jan. 16 election, but dismissed speculation that he might resign as New Taipei City mayor during the campaign to try to tilt the race in his favor.
“I will definitely step down as KMT chairman if I do not get elected, even if the party maintains its legislative majority,” he said.
“Resigning from the mayoral post concerns not only myself, but also hundreds of people in my administration, including the city government’s three deputy mayors, department heads and officials. All of them would have to be replaced by interim representatives designated by the central government if I made that choice,” he said.
This would put the city government on hold for three months pending a by-election, Chu said, adding he would never let the municipality’s residents be affected by such a decision.
Elaborating on his decision, announced on Monday, to take a leave of absence from the mayor’s job, Chu said that being on leave does not mean he would ignore city affairs.
“If I have the time, I would return to the city government to help handle some affairs. This would be my way of showing respect to the city residents and to the system,” Chu told Chou in the interview.
Turning to critics who have labeled him “morally bankrupt” for breaking his promises not to join next year’s presidential race and to serve out his second mayoral term, Chu said it was the harshest and most heart-wrenching criticism that a person who valued their reputation could ever receive.
“However, I will accept the criticism ... because I am doing this not for the KMT, but to give Taiwan’s next generations and its people a different choice,” Chu said.
He said that even his family was against his decision to enter the presidential race, adding that he had told his wife to “never marry a guy like him in her next life.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
TAIWAN PROTECTION MEASURE: US Army General Charles Flynn would not say where in the Asia-Pacific the missiles would be sent, but only that they would arrive in 2024 The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported. The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying. “In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
NO FREE LUNCH: Taiwanese joining the trips to China met TAO and United Front Work officials who urged them to vote for candidates who support closer ties with Beijing The Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday released two suspects on bail who have been accused of recruiting Taiwanese to join tours to China funded by Beijing and in which they were urged to vote for pan-blue candidates in January’s presidential and legislative elections. The pan-blue camp generally refers to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Young China Party, which support closer relations with China. Prosecutors said that a man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), and a woman, surnamed Yeh (葉), who are members of the China Pan-Blue Association, recruited Taiwanese tourists to join tours arranged
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday slammed a proposal by New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, to permit a “significant number” of Chinese students to study and work in Taiwan, saying it would be detrimental to young Taiwanese. At an event on Monday hosted by nine major industrial and business groups, Hou said that if elected, he would reinitiate cross-strait dialogue on the premise that Taiwan’s dignity would not be compromised and that the talks would be held in good faith. The talks would include lifting a ban on Chinese tour groups and
RSS