Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday threw his support behind Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) potential speakership bid, as dozens of KMT lawmakers launched a signature drive calling for Wang to be placed on top of the party’s list of legislator-at-large candidates.
“Wang is the incumbent legislative speaker and also one of the KMT’s most significant leaders. He is highly revered in the party,” Chu said during a trip to Kaohsiung, in response to questions about the possibility of Wang heading the KMT’s legislator-at-large candidate list.
Chu, who is also the KMT’s chairman, said he believed Wang, who has served as a legislator for four decades and legislative speaker for 18 years, would continue to fight alongside the party for the Republic of China.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“He will keep on leading the legislature,” Chu added.
The chairman dismissed calls by the KMT’s Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) — a military veterans’ branch of the party — that Wang be placed 10th on the list to boost the party’s legislative prospects, saying Wang was respected by most party members.
Some have interpreted Chu’s remarks as confirmation that Wang has received a green light from KMT leadership to seek a fourth term as a legislator-at-large.
Wang retaining his legislator-at-large status was impossible until the KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday passed a motion to lift the party’s self-imposed three-term limit on legislator-at-large seats for legislative speakers.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) yesterday initiated a petition at the party’s caucus meeting urging party headquarters to offer the first place on the legislator-at-large list to Wang.
The petition had been signed by 36 of the KMT’s 65 lawmakers as of press time last night.
To demonstrate respect for Wang, whose maneuvering skills are second to none, the KMT leadership has been strongly urged to place the speaker’s name on the top of the list, KMT Legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said.
KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said the party’s delay in finalizing the list has put Wang in an awkward position.
However, Wang Jin-pyng said he respected the party’s leadership and would let events run their course.
“If given the opportunity, I would not shirk my responsibility,” he said.
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