Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said that the party is to hold an extraordinary meeting today to adjust its list of legislator-at-large nominees for the Jan. 11 elections amid criticism over its rankings.
Furthermore, his place on the list would be moved down, Wu said on the sidelines of a ceremony of the Taiwan International Invention Award Winners’ Association in Taipei.
The KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday approved a 34-person list of at-large nominees.
Photo: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Taipei Times
Since its release, the list has been widely criticized for placing Wu in 10th place, which would almost certainly guarantee him a seat, as the party is expected to garner enough votes for the first 14 or 15 names.
It has also been criticized for including mostly older party members and several pro-unification figures, including former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), who was placed eighth, and retired lieutenant general and 800 Heroes for the Republic of China Association president Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), who was fourth.
KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) said the list showed that the party is unwilling to engage the younger generation, and is only interested in siding with conservative and extremely reactionary groups.
“The list shows no political ideals, no momentum and no energy,” Hsu wrote on Facebook.
KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) expressed concern that the list might cause the party to lose support.
The list “has disappointed Taiwanese and will cause us to lose votes,” Ko wrote on Facebook.
In Taoyuan, about a dozen KMT Taoyuan City councilors and Central Committee members held a news conference urging the KMT headquarters to move Wu Den-yih down the list and include more members who can represent the younger generation and minority groups.
If the party does not adjust its at-large nominees at the meeting today, Taoyuan City Councilor Huang Ching-ping (黃敬平), who is a member of the committee, said that he and many other committee members would veto their nominations at a committee meeting tomorrow.
KMT Taichung City Councilor Huang Hsin-hui (黃馨慧), Tainan City Councilor Tsai Yu-hui (蔡育輝), Kaohsiung City councilors Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭), Huang Hsiang-shu (黃香菽) and Chen Ruo-tsui (陳若翠), as well as other committee members, held news conferences in their cities urging the party to adjust the list.
Former premier Simon Chang (張善政), the KMT’s vice presidential candidate, said the list was “unable to meet people’s expectations.”
“There is also the option of the People First Party,” Chang told reporters in Taipei.
“Just do not vote for the Democratic Progressive Party,” he added.
Asked about Chang’s remarks, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, said that Chang has been an independent and is probably unfamiliar with the way in which political parties operate.
Earlier yesterday, Wu Den-yih had told party members protesting outside the headquarters that the list could not be changed.
That Wu Den-yih placed himself 10th shows that the KMT has no confidence that it can win more than half of the seats in the legislature, Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said, urging the chairman to move down to 15th.
“I would feel bad if I was at the top of the list, but in reality I had hoped to be placed eighth,” Wu Den-yih said.
While KMT chairpersons in the past ran for president, “considering my experience, would it have been too much even if I had sought the presidency?” he asked.
Additional reporting by CNA
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under