Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters voiced strong opposition to the party considering non-local candidates to run for Keelung mayor after it dropped Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰) as its candidate in the Nov. 29 elections.
They said the party should promote KMT members from the Keelung area, who have greater empathy with the region.
The KMT revoked Huang’s candidature on July 6 after he was embroiled in an alleged bribery case, leaving it scrambling for a replacement.
National Security Council (NSC) advisor Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) and KMT Organization and Development Committee director Su Chun-pin (蘇俊賓) have reportedly been mentioned as possible candidates.
Keelung is a relatively closed electoral district compared with New Taipei City and Taipei, and parachuting candidates from another area would not win the hearts of local voters, a leading local party member said on condition of anonymity.
Former NSC deputy secretary-general Yang Yung-ming (楊永明) discovered this the hard way and backed out when he realized the difficulty of being accepted by the populace, the party member said.
Hsieh’s ties to Keelung — he studied for a masters’ degree at National Taiwan Ocean University — would not enough for him to be accepted, the party member said, adding that Su had no ties to the port city at all.
“Chances of winning the election by sending in someone with little to no ties with the city are slim,” the party member said.
Integration of local support is key to winning the city, he said.
Sources say the Lin faction in Keelung, headed by former Keelung mayor Lin Shui-mu (林水木), was only willing to support KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) as a replacement candidate.
However, Hsieh has turned down a nomination offer from the party and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also serves as KMT chairman, citing family objections.
Lin Shui-mu’s son, Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥), who ran against Huang in the party primaries, said Keelung has a high level of autonomy and backs its own people, as evidenced by the high support for Hsieh Kuo-liang, a Keeling native, compared with Hsieh Li-kung.
The KMT should adapt to the situation and select someone from the region to run in Keelung, Lin Pei-hsiang said.
KMT spokesman Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信) yesterday said the party would continue its efforts to cement solidarity in local areas and do its best to find a suitable candidate.
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