Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday held a closed-door meeting with former chairman Lien Chan (連戰) as speculation mounted that Lien might take over as chairman if Ma were indicted for alleged misuse of a special mayoral allowance and resigned.
While the two declined to comment on their meeting at Lien's office, KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday dismissed speculation that Lien would take over as chairman if Ma were to resign, saying the party would follow regulations and hold an election within three months if the current chairman resigned.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Chairman Ma will stick to his promise and resign as party chairman if he is indicted," Wu said.
Wu declined to confirm whether Ma would continue to seek the presidency if he were indicted.
Wu added, however, that surveys showed Ma's support rate was still higher than potential presidential candidates in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), including Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
As the probe into Ma's use of his special allowance during his tenure as Taipei mayor nears completion, expectations are high that the outcome of the investigation would be announced before the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 18.
Speculation has also mounted that Ma may be indicted as the former mayor stepped up appeals to the public to protest his innocence and even visited the Black Gold Investigation Center on Wednesday to explain that he had acted within the law when he wired half of his mayoral allowance to his personal bank account.
Several local media outlets also claimed that Ma would be indicted yesterday, but no announcement was forthcoming.
Wu admitted that Ma was worried about the case, but said the party was well-prepared to face the outcome of the investigation.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Yu yesterday blasted Ma for trying to appeal to the public by portraying himself as a victim of political persecution.
"Ma said he has no motive [to embezzle half of the special allowance fund], but this does not mean he is not corrupt," he said in a party event in Taitung.
Yu added that Ma had come up with five different versions of how he spent his special mayoral allowance since the investigation started and "if one of them was true, that means Ma told four lies."
At a separate event, DPP Legislator Wang Shui-hui (
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS