The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to forgo a presidential primary in favor of nominating a candidate by special committee to avoid internal strife, the party said yesterday.
The announcement came after the KMT Central Standing Committee held a session to establish the makeup of the Central Nomination Committee at its headquarters in Taipei, amid calls for unity by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫).
Party leadership must facilitate efforts to unite its forces and find a candidate with broad appeal outside the pan-green camp to win the presidential election next year, Chu told a news conference after the meeting.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The nomination process for KMT legislative candidates would be conducted in three phases on April 22, May 20 and June 18, he said.
The KMT has communicated with former members of the US national security apparatus and Japanese representatives, and has emphasized its desire to remain friendly with the US, Japan and China, he said.
The party underscored its “2D strategy” to enhance national defense and cross-strait dialogue that would protect peace and democracy, Chu said, adding that foreign friends were impressed by the KMT’s platform.
KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia’s (夏立言) two visits to China generated tangible results to help resolve a dispute over Taiwanese agricultural exports and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to visit the ancestral tombs of his family in China next week, he said.
The KMT’s endeavor to achieve peace across the Taiwan Strait would be the foundation of its victory in the general election, he said.
Asked about New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi’s (侯友宜) potential candidacy, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said that Hou knows his duty to the party well and will not shrink from it.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party Central Standing Committee waived polling requirements for Vice President William Lai (賴清德) as the sole contender in the party’s presidential nomination, clearing a procedural hurdle for the presumptive candidate.
An announcement of Lai’s nomination is expected on April 12, while competitive polling for those seeking to become legislative nominees would be held two days after that, the party said.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
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Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
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