Hung: Elected Party Whip to Be Deputy of KMT Central Policy Committee

 Hung: Elected Party Whip to Be Deputy of KMT Central Policy Committee

 Sources: All Taipei newspapers

 April 7, 2016

KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) began to propose various reform programs within the party right away after she assumed office last Wednesday, March 30. 

Hung expressed her support for proposals that the KMT party whip in the Legislative Yuan (LY) should be directly elected from among KMT legislators in the future. However, she went on to say that the party whip would also be an ex officio deputy director of the Central Policy Committee, serving as a bridge connecting the party central and the legislative caucus to maximize the KMT’s influence in the LY. 

Currently, the KMT legislative caucus is headed by the party whip and the caucus whip. For the former, the party chairperson first appoints the director of the Central Policy Committee from among KMT legislators, who concurrently serves as party whip. The caucus whip is directly elected from among KMT legislators. 

KMT legislator Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) proposed to directly elect the party whip, relegating the director of the Central Policy Committee to a supportive role. However, his proposal was generally regarded as an attempt to keep Chairwoman Hung’s hands off the legislative caucus.

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