The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) worst nightmare could be in the making as it is beginning to look like its presumptive presidential nominee, Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), may not be running to win after all.
Her provocative comments on sensitive political issues in recent weeks appear to have been made with complete disregard of the impact they could have on fellow KMT lawmakers’ campaigns for the legislative elections in January, which will be held alongside the presidential election.
Nicknamed “Little Red Pepper,” Hung earlier this week showed how she earned that appellation when she called KMT headquarters “gutless” (沒出息) when it sought to persuade her to return to the center on cross-strait issues.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Hung on Sunday said that she had not discussed what stance to take on cross-strait issues with the party, but party leaders have said that she was told in person on Thursday last week that she must attune her cross-strait comments to a more centrist view and should not be focusing solely on the presidential election.
Hung’s response was to call the party “gutless,” adding that it caved in to pressure without considering its ideals.
The party’s upper echelon has been adamant that Hung should be a team player and consider the party’s survival as her primary objective, but Hung has been equally adamant that ideals are important.
“The public must be made to understand our ideals; campaigning is not just about votes in an election, but more importantly about putting our ideals to practice,” Hung told the party leadership.
If the KMT changed its ideals in a bid for votes, it would be meaningless to run for president, she said.
Both sides refused to listen to the other and the meeting ended on a sour note.
Later that afternoon, Hung said in a TV interview that her “one China, same interpretation” formula is aimed at having Beijing recognize the existence of the “government” of the Republic of China (ROC) — rather than the “existence” of the ROC, which would constitute a “two-state theory” — driving the wedge between her and the party deeper.
The lack of trust between Hung and KMT headquarters was evident the day she announced that she would enter the party’s presidential primary.
Hung’s team is proud of not relying on the party to win the primary, while at the same time it is suspicious of the upper echelons of the KMT, whom they felt did nothing to help and even tried to harm their campaign.
However, to the KMT, Hung is starting to look like a bucking bronco. While she could stand by her claims that she is not worried about votes and is running for ideals, some wonder who is going to take responsibility for the outcome of the legislative elections. Some KMT legislators have already begun to talk about dropping their re-election bids or leaving the party.
The KMT is in a bad position. Even if it unites against the Democratic Progressive Party and other opposition parties, it might not be able turn the tables. The future is looking grim now that the KMT appears to have sprouted a second head that is adamant about moving in the opposite direction to the main one.
Translated by Jake Chung
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