The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should call a national party congress to revise its charter before electing a new party chair, KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (李新) said yesterday, threatening to sue the party if his demands are not met.
On Sunday, Lee announced his decision to run for the KMT chairmanship after it was vacated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Wednesday last week, following the party’s overwhelming losses in the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections.
He elaborated on his plan yesterday by comparing the KMT to a “100-year-old brand … in danger of going off the market” — unless it changes its way of thinking and organizational structure to survive.
“There are only three choices: Either President Ma must leave the party, resign the presidency, or the party charter has to be revised,” Lee said.
The KMT charter was amended late last year to tie the party chairmanship to the presidency when the KMT is in power, stipulating that a KMT president automatically serves as party chair, with no provision that allows a KMT president to resign the party leadership position.
In contrast, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) charter stipulates that a new chairperson can be elected if a DPP president relinquishes the post.
Lee said he would sue to impose a provisional injunction against any election before the KMT’s charter is revised.
Unless the charter is revised, a new party leader would face “grave challenges” in establishing their legitimacy, KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) said.
Lee, 61, said his candidacy was aimed at stimulating other worthy candidates to “bravely” join the leadership race, adding that only a real election would save the party from the humiliation of being “castrated” by defeat.
Lee is one of just two aspirants who have so far announced their possible contention for the position.
KMT Central Standing Committee member Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), 54, said that if popular and well-known party members do not enter the race: “I will.”
Separately yesterday, when asked for comment on Lee Hsin’s candidacy, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT said it was a “good sign” that there are candidates who are willing to do the job, comparing it to “jumping into a pit of fire.”
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