Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would be an “ideal” person to represent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in promoting cross-strait exchanges, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
Chiang — who has taken a leave of absence from his role as KMT chairman to campaign for re-election — made the remarks in an interview with radio talk show host Huang Wei-han (黃暐瀚).
Ma would be the “most ideal candidate” to carry out exchanges across the Taiwan Strait on behalf of the KMT, Chiang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
When Chiang registered his candidacy for KMT chairperson in Taipei on Tuesday last week, he listed as one of his five main goals for a second term the appointment of a special representative to promote cross-strait exchanges on behalf of the party.
Chiang yesterday said that he would seek Ma’s support in the upcoming election, but that he would respect the former president’s decision.
The KMT is scheduled to hold elections for its chairperson and delegates of its National Congress on Sept. 25, after they were postponed from July 24 due to a domestic COVID-19 outbreak in May.
Besides Chiang, the other candidates for KMT chair are former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) and former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源).
Chu, who was KMT chairman from January 2015 to January 2016, is Chiang’s main rival.
Chiang won a by-election on March 7 last year to replace former KMT chairman and vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
In the hour-long interview, Chiang expressed the hope that KMT members would unite after the election.
Asked about the referendums to be held on Dec. 18, Chiang said that they would inevitably have an effect on subsequent elections, as well as a competition between the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party.
As the referendums are not tied to a national election, voter turnout would be key, said Chiang, whose party initiated two of the referendum proposals.
Commenting on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) receiving the first dose of the domestic Medigen COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, Chiang said that the president had chosen to receive the Medigen vaccine, but the public should be given options besides being vaccinated with the Medigen vaccine “or having to wait.”
Separately yesterday, Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), chairman of the Broadcasting Corp of China, said that the “Blue Fighters” faction of the KMT that he is organizing is not the same as the New KMT Alliance.
The New KMT Alliance, in which Jaw was involved, was a faction of the KMT that eventually split from the party to form the New Party in 1993.
“What the KMT lacks most is enthusiasm and combativeness,” Jaw wrote on Facebook, describing the “Blue Fighters” as having a special kind of philosophy and attitude toward politics.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun
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