The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed media reports that it has compiled a list of “dream candidates” for next year’s local elections, saying that the party’s nomination of candidates will conform to the principles of justness and selflessness.
In a press release issued yesterday, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) said that the party will comply with regulations and the primary mechanism of its strategic planning for next year’s elections for city mayors, county commissioners, and city and county councilors.
“There is absolutely not a predetermined candidate list,” Lee said, dismissing the reports as “pure speculation.”
The Chinese-language United Daily News on Nov. 18 reported that the party has picked the candidates for the mayoral elections for the six special municipalities and other areas.
The list includes KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) for Taipei, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou Yu-yi (侯友宜) for New Taipei City, KMT Legislator and former Taoyuan County commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) for Taoyuan, KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) for Taichung, former Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission minister Kao Su-po (高思博) for Tainan and KMT Kaohsiung Chapter Chairman Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for Kaohsiung, among others.
The report quoted an anonymous KMT official as saying that the list, which he called a “backup list,” does exist, but added that the party would handle the matter in a just and fair manner and nominate the candidates who are most likely to win.
The list was decided by high-level KMT officials based on word-of-mouth assessment and personal observations, but to secure official nomination, the shortlisted party members have to express their intention to run in the elections and might have to pass a primary survey, the official said.
However, before former KMT legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) had announced his bid to run in the party’s primary for Taipei mayoral election, KMT spokesman Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) on Nov. 18 said that the party would not necessarily hold a primary to pick the candidates for the mayoral elections in the six special municipalities.
The party’s ultimate goal is winning and its nomination of candidates would revolve around that goal, Hung said at the time.
Lee yesterday said that the nomination of candidates will conform to two principles: choosing the ones most loyal to the party and most likely to win, and selecting them through a fair mechanism.
“There will be no such thing as some high-level party members leaking information to the media or the party determining the candidates behind the scenes,” Lee said.
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