Speculation mounted yesterday of a rift between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopefuls former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
KMT legislators Justin Chou (周守訓) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) yesterday told the press that pairing former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Ma on the same ticket was a possible solution to the problem of reaching an agreement on the party's presidential candidates.
Asked to comment on a report in yesterday's Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper), the pair confirmed that several KMT legislators thought that Wang should take over as party chairman in return for Lien and Ma running as candidates in next year's presidential election.
Wang refused to answer "hypothetical" questions yesterday, but said he didn't think that Lien intended to launch another presidential bid.
The Liberty Times article also speculated that KMT Acting Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Wu's claim that he had forgotten to pass on to Wang Lien's proposal that Wang become chairman in return for Ma running for president only fueled the speculation.
Wu is running the party's chairmanship and will resign as acting chairman today.
KMT Legislator Wu Chih-yang (
Ma, meanwhile, declined to comment on his possible choice of a running mate but repeated his expectation that the party would decide on its presidential candidate via a primary.
"There are rumors flying around every day and I don't want to respond to them. The KMT has a mechanism for nominating presidential candidates and anyone who wants to enter the primary must comply with the system," Ma said.
Ma said he would discuss possible combinations of running mates with Lien, Wang and Wu Poh-hsiung.
Wu Poh-hsiung, meanwhile, said he only had his sights on the KMT chairmanship.
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WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,