The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday elected 210 members to its Central Committee — including 14 government officials — the start of a change in its decision-making bodies ahead of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) becoming party chairman next month.
Those elected included KMT legislators Lin Yi-shih (林益世), Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), Council of Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉振) and National Youth Commission Minister Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷), academics and representatives of overseas compatriots.
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) and Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基), who had been nominated when they were minister of the Veterans Affairs Commission and Taipei City deputy mayor respectively, had said they would not take the seats to prevent any controversy.
PHOTO: CNA
The committee members were elected by 1,171 party representatives from a list of 315 candidates. Party headquarters had nominated 210 of the candidates, while rest were party members who ran on their own.
Ma, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) were among the top party members casting their votes yesterday.
Central Committee members are eligible to run in the Central Standing Committee election on Oct. 11.
The Central Standing Committee is the highest decision-making body in the KMT and its 39 members meet once a week to approve major policies presented by the party.
It is believed that yesterday’s election and the Central Standing Committee election will help Ma consolidate his power and strengthen communication between the party, the legislature and the administration after he is sworn in as KMT chairman during the party’s national congress on Oct. 17.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS