President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will conclude his campaign tour for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship today by visiting Hualien and Taitung before returning to Taipei City.
The KMT chairman election will be held tomorrow. Although Ma is the sole candidate, his campaign office is still making campaigning efforts to seek an 80 percent support rate among party members.
The KMT will set up 519 voting booths around the nation for the chairman election and party delegate election. The result is likely to be announced around 6pm tomorrow and Ma will hold a press conference immediately after to address the members, the campaign office said.
Ma has used weekends and non-working hours to tour cities and counties around Taiwan and meet local members for his KMT chairmanship bid since earlier this month. He has promised to deal with party assets, enhance cooperation between the party and the government, use the Central Standing Committee as the communication platform between the party and the government, reform the party, offer candidates with integrity and cultivate younger talent if elected.
It is expected that the president will talk to five hopefuls for December’s Hualien County commissioner election today when visiting the county, as Minister of Health Yeh Ching-chuan’s (葉金川) potential bid caused tension among local hopefuls.
Yeh had mentioned on several occasions his wish to return to Hualien, where he taught at Tzu Chi University, and the KMT also lauded Yeh as a “good choice” to represent the party in the election.
Five KMT members, including KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), Hualien County Council Speaker Yang Wen-chi (楊文值), Hualien City Mayor Tsai Chi-ta (蔡啟塔) and former director of Hualien County’s Agricultural Development Office Tu Li-hua (杜麗華), have registered with the party to participate in the primary.
The party, however, suspended the primary last month because of intense competition and Yeh’s potential bid.
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