The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is this year setting its sights on young, moderate voters by focusing on policy issues such as animal protection and housing, and offering trendy merchandise, the party’s youth director said on Saturday last week.
To boost waning support for the KMT among young voters after last year’s general election, the party first focused on reaching out to people already within the pan-blue camp, KMT Youth Department director Chen Kuan-an (陳冠安) said.
This year, the party is to target people without such ingrained ideologies through methods that would better appeal to them, Chen said, adding that the strategy is showing initial success.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The first half of last year was the toughest for the KMT, especially among young people, whose support for the party fell to single-digit percentage points, Chen said.
The KMT has worked to bring young supporters back into the fold, he said, adding that it largely met that goal by the end of the year.
This year, to attract moderate voters, the party needs to adopt a more policy-centric approach, he said.
It is launching a “youth think tank,” which is to focus on a few key issues, such as animal protection, housing, diversity, higher education, creative opportunities and public employment, he said.
Eventually, the youth wing is to also attach greater importance to labor rights, he added.
Another task for the department is to design merchandise, Chen said.
The party has sold a few hundred thousand New Taiwan dollars of merchandise since setting up an online shopping portal in November last year, he said.
Although most of the income is turned over to the KMT Administration and Management Committee, 40 percent is earmarked for the youth department, he added.
Last year, 3,545 people aged 20 to 29 joined the KMT, while support for the party among young people rose to 14 percent, Chen said, adding that it is already closing the gap with the Democratic Progressive Party.
Ultimately, the KMT’s entire promotional system needs to be rebuilt, Chen said.
This should start with systematizing talent selection to help young people obtain party titles, such as deputy director or spokesperson, he said.
The party should then increase their media exposure and help them manage fan pages, so that even if they leave after a year, they would still have the resources to maintain a public presence, he added.
No matter where they go on to work, these people could serve as a voice for the pan-blue camp, as well as capable policy researchers, he said.
However, many young pan-blue supporters are not enthusiastic about working in politics due to the party’s opaque promotion system, he added.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition