One of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) legislators-at-large unexpectedly resigned last week amid speculation that the party planned to take advantage of the vacancy as part of its campaign for presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) confirmed yesterday that KMT Legislator Tsao Shou-min (曹壽民) submitted his resignation last week. But Wang said he didn't know the reason for Tsao's decision.
Tsao's seat will be filled by legislator-at-large candidate Huang Liang-hua (黃良華), the former head of an association for Taiwanese businesspeople with investments in Foshan City, Guangdong Province.
"As far as I know, the party asked at least two legislators-at-large to give up their seats to Huang, but they refused. Only Tsao was willing to sacrifice himself for the party," KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) said yesterday.
Lei refused to reveal the names of the two lawmakers, but said she strongly disapproved of the strategy, which was aimed at winning votes from China-based businesspeople.
Tsao was unavailable for comment. His office said he was not in the country. It also said his resignation was based on personal reasons and that he has other plans for his career.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) denied that Ma had anything to do with Tsao's decision, while caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said that Tsao wanted to return to teaching at National Taiwan University's civil engineering department.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus Wang Tuoh (王拓) said that the KMT's move was very naive.
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