Whoever wins in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) next chairperson election will have the party’s full and united support, KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday, dismissing speculation that she is worried about the increasingly competitive race.
Hung made the remarks while visiting a group of KMT staffers who have camped outside the office of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee for 25 consecutive days to protest against what they called the committee’s illegal handling of the party’s assets.
“I believe every candidate in the election should have faith in themselves, and should not care too much about the outcome. We will support whoever wins,” Hung said, adding that the KMT would have no future if it does not unite.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Asked if she thinks the election, scheduled for May 20, has seen too much competition too soon, with two other candidates having announced their bids, Hung said she had been too preoccupied with party affairs to feel a thing.
Hung added that the party’s planned structural reforms, next year’s local elections, and fundraising take precedence over the chairpersonship race.
Hung’s comments came after KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) announced their bids for the leadership race on Saturday and yesterday morning respectively.
Hung also announced recently that she would seek re-election as KMT chief.
Hau yesterday took to Facebook to call for an end to the KMT’s longstanding one-person rule culture.
“Following the KMT’s defeat in the 2014 nine-in-one elections ... an op-ed published by the Chinese-language United Daily News included some penetrating views. It stated that the KMT’s inability to promptly respond to changes in public opinion is due to the party’s long-term overt dependence on orders from and the opinions of the party leader,” Hau said.
No party leader is omnipotent and has a comprehensive grasp of the party, the nation and society, Hau wrote, adding that the problem has plagued not only the KMT, but also the Democratic Progressive Party.
Calling for a transformation from one-person rule to collective leadership, Hau said the change would make the KMT more tolerant and allow it to tap into each member’s strong suits and re-establish contact with different social groups.
“That is the only way we can narrow the gap between the opinions of the KMT and those of the public,” he said.
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