Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday gave mixed reviews regarding a proposal by a group of party representatives to impose restrictions on government officials who would like to run in future legislative elections.
The proposal was put forth by the party’s Central Standing Committee members on Wednesday on behalf of a group of young party representatives in a bid to bar government officials who have not served over half of their term in office from running for legislator.
If the proposal is approved by the party, officials elected in the nation’s five special municipalities late last year will not be able to pursue legislative seats next year.
KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) said she is in favor of introducing the restrictions, adding that the proposed ban would help discourage “opportunists.”
However, KMT Legislator Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田) disagreed with the need to impose the ban, saying the proposal was unreasonable.
Hsiao said the proposal was introduced to secure the careers of incumbent legislators.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) voiced a similar view, saying that the plan would infringe upon the rights of the newly elected officials to political participation.
KMT Legislator Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) said he supported amending the party’s nomination regulations to ensure that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) can remain a legislator-at-large in next year’s legislative election.
Wong said that Wang is a senior official in the legislature who is respected by politicians across party lines.
The KMT’s existing regulations only allow party members to serve as legislators-at-large for a maximum of two terms.
Wang is serving his second term as a legislator-at-large. Between 1993 and 2005, he was an elected lawmaker in what was then Kaohsiung County.
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that a group of KMT legislators from central and southern Taiwan planned to suggest that the speaker be excluded from the ban.
The Chinese-language China Times, on the other hand, quoted an unidentified politician as saying that Wang could be named premier if President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) chooses Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) as a running mate in his re-election bid next year.
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