The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday sought to play down the repercussions of People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) endorsement of Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), who is running as an independent in the Greater Kaohsiung mayoral election next month.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the five Nov. 27 special municipality elections were a formidable challenge for the KMT and the pan-blue camp.
“History has taught us that we can only win the public’s support if we unite,” Su said. “If we can pass this test, it proves that we can carry out party discipline and that our effort to build grassroots support base has been effective.”
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Instead of bashing Soong, Su said the KMT must minimize the repercussions of “individual politicians” and maximize integration.
“The KMT has been on its own to become stronger in the south,” he said. “Whether KMT candidates will obtain public support will depend on the effort they put in.”
If party members can unite and the party can maintain discipline, Su said he was confident of Huang’s election prospects.
Su’s remarks came in response to reporters’ questions about the possibility of a “dump-save” effect after Soong pledged his support for Yang on Sunday.
The “dump-save” effect refers to strategic voting in which a party with little chance of winning leans toward one of the major parties during a campaign.
The entry of former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Yang has turned the race into a three-way contest with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP and KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順).
Su said Huang was the best choice because a change of government was the only way for residents in the region that will become Greater Kaohsiung to change the status quo.
If the KMT’s policies were correct, Su said he was confident the party would obtain the support of the majority of voters in the south.
Meanwhile, PFP-turned-KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said Soong’s support for Yang would “more or less” affect Huang’s electoral chances.
Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chuang Chi-wang (莊啟旺), another KMT member, also voiced concerns about pan-blue heavyweight Lin Yuan-yuan (林淵源) joining Soong in supporting Yang because Lin was an influential figure in Kaohsiung County.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who also serves as chief supervisor of Huang’s campaign, downplayed the significance of Soong’s support, saying the move could unite KMT supporters in Kaohsiung.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) declined to comment on the matter when he arrived at party headquarters yesterday morning to chair the weekly party meeting in his role as KMT chairman.
For her part, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Soong’s support for Yang was an election “variable,” but she said she had reservations on whether a KMT-PFP split would boost Chen’s re-election bid. Tsai said she had confidence in Chen and her team and that the DPP’s supporters in Kaohsiung were united.
Chen said she was not worried and would not comment on the possibility of a split in the pan-blue camp.
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) traveled to Kaohsiung City to urge voters to support Chen.
Lee said he did not support any particular political party, only Taiwan. Only if the pro-localization candidates won all five mayoral seats could Taiwanese change the course of Ma’s China-friendly policy, he said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS