KMT NPC votes to repeal Hung, draft Chu to run in 2016 Presidential Poll

 KMT NPC votes to repeal Hung, draft Chu to run in 2016 Presidential Poll

The KMT has made a painful decision to repeal legislature deputy speaker Hung Hsiu-chu’s presidential nomination, in an effort to boost the party’s chances in the January 16 polls and keep Taiwan’s partisan democracy running.

 In an extraordinary session of the KMT National Party Congress on October 17, 812 out of 891 NPC members who attended the session voted yes, by raising hands, to pass the resolution to repeal Hung’s nomination and pick KMT Chairman Eric Chu as the party’s new presidential candidate.

 Before the vote, Hung told NPC members that though reluctantly, she would accept the party’s decision to revoke her nomination, despite what she described as the “highly controversial” procedural move.

 “As a party member, I have no choice but to accept the result,” she said, adding she would remain loyal to the KMT even though the party might give up on her.

 She reminded the NPC that the party was in trouble following its crushing defeat in last November’s local government elections. She said she stepped forward to strive for the party’s nomination all because no party’s heavyweights were willing to run for the presidential polls, given the party’s poor electoral showing.

 She also defended her position on cross-strait relations, saying she merely wanted to seek further improvement in Taiwan’s ties with mainland China.    

 In two speeches later, Chu apologized to Hung and all party members, saying he had not done enough in terms of communication. “I am sorry for all the troubles and worries I have caused all party comrades…. I want to apologize to Hung for the trouble and frustration she has endured,” Chu said.

 He said he did not run for nomination in the party’s primaries all because he had promised the New Taipei City’s 4 million people that he would serve well and complete his full term when he announced his bid for reelection as the mayor in June last year.

 He said knowing that some people might attack him for failing to keep his promise, he still had to step forward to run as the KMT candidate because he wanted to protect the Republic of China and uphold its democracy.

 “As we all know that today what we are facing is not the election of a single person, but the future of the entire party and the future of the Republic of China,” he said, adding if the KMT became the minority in the legislature, Taiwan would be dominated by a single party -- the Democratic Progressive Party.

 “Can you imagine what the DPP would do? In the past when it was the ruling party, it had tried to make some changes that would have impacted the Republic of China and the cross-strait peace were it not for our insistence on defending the ROC,” Chu said.

“If we are unable to maintain our majority in the legislature, we could lose not just one election, but also the ROC and cross-strait peace,” Chu said, referring to the legislative elections which will be held alongside the presidential poll.

 He said many people thought the DPP needs only to sit back and relax to win both the presidential and legislative elections. But for elections that would decide the future of the ROC, the KMT must stand up to fight for the country regardless of how tough the battle would be. He also called for full party unity in order to strive for victory despite the perilous situation.

 “We hope through the method of debating, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen can clearly tell us how to deal with the ROC’s future and cross-strait relations,” Chu said, adding Tsai must explain how cross-strait status quo could be maintained without the “1992 consensus.”

 President Ma Ying-jeou also attended the extraordinary session, during which he applauded Hung for coming forward to compete for the party’s nomination when no one else had wanted to compete. He also called for party’s unity in order to win the elections.

 Former KMT Chairman Lien Chan said he expects Chu to unite the party to “save Taiwan.”

 Former Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung also praised Hung as the biggest winner for being able to take a step back that would make the world “opens up.”

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