A proposal for mayoral candidates to “share the spoils” drew a rebuke yesterday from former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), an independent Taipei mayoral candidate endorsed by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), after Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the TPP should support each other in Hsinchu and Taipei.
Jaw made the remark on Monday after the results of an opinion poll on the leading candidates for Hsinchu mayor suggested that Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安), the TPP’s candidate, and former Hsinchu deputy mayor Shen Hui-hung (沈慧虹), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate, have the same level of support.
If the non-DPP camp is divided, the result might be failure on both sides, so the KMT and the TPP can “exchange” support in Hsinchu and Taipei, ensuring that Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), the KMT’s Taipei mayoral candidate, and Kao obtain the most votes, Jaw said.
Photo: CNA
Implied in the proposal would be that Huang and Hsinchu City Councilor Lin Ken-jeng (林耕仁), the KMT’s Hsinchu mayoral candidate, would not be given support by their own parties.
“Only people who have problems would so boldly suggest sharing political spoils,” Huang wrote on Facebook, adding that if Chiang opposes such underhanded political manipulation, he should speak out against it.
“Mr Chiang, do you approve of Mr Jaw’s remark? Do you also agree that residents’ rights and interests can be politically exchanged so you can become mayor?” she asked.
If Chiang does not express his disapproval, people would believe that he tacitly approves of the idea, Huang said, adding that were he to win without rejecting the proposal, people would sense that he might not have put in a complete effort or have been capable to become mayor without a political exchange.
Jaw’s remark neglected people’s opinions and showed that he thought of them only as pawns, she wrote.
The KMT has not changed in the eight years since it lost the Taipei mayoralty, she wrote. It still believes in the authoritative idea that the party’s opinion is more important than people’s opinions.
She asked if Chiang was brave enough to go against the party, or whether he would remain silent and be a puppet of the old era.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who was campaigning with Lin in Hsinchu, said that it would be impossible for Huang to agree with Jaw’s proposal or for the KMT to make such a sacrifice.
Jaw yesterday wrote on Facebook that the “Taipei-Hsinchu exchange” remark had sparked many discussions, but “the KMT should not need to negotiate with the TPP on anything, as there seems to be nothing the TPP can offer the KMT in Taipei.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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