Party discipline is a make-or-break factor to rehabilitating the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) public image, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
Chiang made the remark in a Hit FM radio interview on the party’s relationship with the media, characterizing his efforts to communicate the party’s ideals and plans as “tiresome” due to a “severe imbalance” in reporting.
The party’s relationship with the media is rocky and, as such, the KMT is absolutely at a disadvantage in terms of news coverage, he said.
He cited as an example a rumor that Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) had quaffed three bottles of kaoliang liquor to secure the party’s presidential nomination.
“I never believed that,” Chiang said.
The KMT cannot tell certain news outlets what to say, so it should instead focus on the outlets it can influence, Chiang said, adding that the party would review its ties and relations with media groups and change how it handles the media.
The party should treat the media with dignity and respect, he said, expressing the hope that the party, under his leadership, would prove to the media that this gesture is sincere.
Asked whether controversy involving KMT Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) has undercut the party’s rebranding efforts and fueled Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) attacks on the KMT, Chiang said that Wu has received the second-most negative online commentary among KMT lawmakers.
With the DPP deliberately overinterpreting his every word and action, it is easy for the public to see Wu’s remarks as representing the party, Chiang said, adding that he would find time to speak with Wu and offer the party’s assistance in handling the issue.
Should Wu refuse the party’s goodwill and repeat his mistakes, the KMT would have no alternative but to issue him a reprimand, which could result in his removal from the legislator-at-large seat, Chiang said.
Party discipline must be maintained if the rebranding efforts are to succeed, he said.
At a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday, Chiang said that legislators-at-large could have their nominations rescinded if their remarks or actions harm the party’s image.
Chiang said that he has tasked the KMT Organizational Development Committee with drafting changes to the ratio of legislator-at-large nominations assigned by the chairperson and the party’s nomination committee.
The changes would be discussed by the KMT Reform Affairs Committee, he said.
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