Fears of a split in the pan-blue camp in Changhua and Nantou counties have faded as two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members who were widely expected to run as independent candidates announced their decision to drop out of the race yesterday, the last day for political aspirants to register for the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections.
Changhua County Deputy Commissioner Ko Cheng-fang (柯呈枋) and Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching’s (李朝卿) wife, Chien Su-tuan (簡素端), were expected to throw their hats into the ring, and possibly lure votes away from the KMT’s official candidates.
Last week, Chien announced her plans to run in place of Lee, who was indicted on corruption charges last year. Lee is suspected of receiving kickbacks for several projects, including post-disaster reconstruction, and was suspended last year.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
However, Chien released a statement yesterday morning saying she was withdrawing from the race.
She said the family was afraid it might become a target of a “political witch hunt and judicial persecution,” having seen how prosecutors went after Keelung City Council Speaker and independent mayoral candidate Huang Ching-tai’s (黃景泰) case.
Prosecutors on Thursday requested for a fourth time that Huang be detained on suspicion of corruption and witness collusion. The request was shortly retracted after Huang’s lawyer’s protested against the “illegitimate arrest procedure,” but then resubmitted. The court has not made a decision at press time last night.
Huang quit as KMT member on the day he registered his candidacy, raising fears that it would lead to a split in pan-blue votes as the KMT has nominated its own candidate in the race.
The party also has an official candidate for Nantou County commissioner — KMT Legislator Lin Ming-chen (林明溱).
In Changhua County, Deputy Commissioner Ko Cheng-fang of the KMT also announced his decision to drop out of the race for county commissioner, saying he would opt for a legislative by-election instead.
Ko said he has always had misgivings about the results of the party’s primary, insisting that he was leading in the telephone poll, but that the party was reluctant to re-examine the results.
Ko lost the primary to KMT Legislator Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏).
Unwilling to leave the party and his supporters in a bind, Ko said that he would instead contest the legislative by-election, which is sure to take place after the Nov. 29 election.
Other county commissioner elections that could see a split in the pan-blue camp include the ones in Yunlin, Hsinchu and Hualien counties.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party announced on Wednesday that it would not nominate candidates in Hsinchu, Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
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