The small yet ambitious Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday announced 21 candidates for the year-end legislative elections, taking in elite former members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (
Touting the high qualifications of the candidates, Huang yesterday said that the party aims to recruit talent from diverse backgrounds based on a united goal of striving for Taiwan's ultimate national interests.
PHOTO: YEH CHIH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"All of the candidates joined the TSU based on one single principle: they all put Taiwan's interests first. They are all determined to push for the rectification of the country's name to `Taiwan,' the creation of a new constitution and economic revival," Huang said yesterday.
The 21 candidates constitute the party's first round of nominations. The nomination list will be finalized this month and next month with the addition of at least eight candidates.
With the shared goal of giving the pan-green camp a solid majority in the legislature, the TSU and DPP have set their sights on winning 130 of the Legislative Yuan's 225 seats. The TSU hopes to get 30 seats, and the DPP 100.
Political observers are speculating that the TSU will woo pro-localization elements within the KMT to fill up the remaining nomination slots.
Huang yesterday admitted that the party has contacted some KMT members, but stressed that the TSU wouldn't go talent-hunting in the KMT. He said the party would only accept those who share the TSU's beliefs and come knocking at its door.
"The KMT currently is in a very shaky situation. I believe many people will want to join the lineup of the TSU," Huang said.
The KMT hasn't even started the process for its legislative nominations, Huang said, ascribing the delay to mistrust between the party leadership and its rank-and-file supporters, conflicts between pro-unification and pro-localization factions and clashes between the party's older and younger generations.
A former KMT member himself, Huang said the only thing that keeps the KMT afloat is its sizeable party assets.
"If the KMT's assets were to be taken away, it would fall apart immediately. The creation of this party was not based on ideals; it is money that keeps everybody together," Huang said, adding that "the recent merger plan between the KMT and People First Party will only hasten the destruction of the KMT."
In addition to the seven incumbent TSU lawmakers, the 14 candidates who were introduced yesterday include David Huang (黃適卓), the party chairman's son; Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), a professor at the National Defense University's Armed Forces College; Tseng Hsing-chau (曾信超), a former DPP national congress representative and chairman of Chang Jung Christian University's Graduate School of Business and Operations Management; and Ho Chia-jung (何嘉榮), a former DPP Chiayi County commissioner and legislator.
Former DPP member Tsai Hung-chang (蔡鴻章), who has twice been defeated in Taipei City Council elections, accused the party of making unfair nominations. Tsai said he was crowded out by David Huang in the competitive southern district of Taipei City.
TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said that, since the TSU was a small party, it was not necessarily more fair to conduct opinion polls to select candidates. He said the review of candidates had been objective and open.
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