Former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) was yesterday named Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) campaign manager and vowed to “turn the tide” in favor of the KMT in the six weeks leading up to the Jan. 16 election.
Hu said it took him “five seconds” to accept Chu’s invitation to serve as chief of staff at the KMT presidential election campaign headquarters.
“This is a crucial moment for the survival of the KMT,” Hu said.
Photo: CNA
At a press conference at the KMT headquarters in Taipei, Hu promised to do his best “for what is right” and “turn the tide toward victory” for the KMT in the countdown to the Jan. 16 elections.
Hu served as foreign minister under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and has been working as a vice chairman of Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) since he lost his bid for re-election as Taichung mayor in December last year.
Hu said that as Chu’s campaign manager, what he wants most is to achieve victory.
He said he will study how to boost the momentum of Chu’s campaign in the final weeks before the election.
At the press conference, Chu also announced other major appointments, including that of Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as head of his advisory group.
Hung was originally nominated by the KMT National Congress as its presidential candidate in July, but three months later, an extraordinary National Congress of the party passed a motion to void her nomination, and installed Chu as the party’s nominee instead on Oct. 17.
There had been rumors that the two had been at odds since, but Chu took the initiative to visit Hung at her official residence on Thursday evening — which is seen by political observers as a move to reconciliation — before yesterday’s announcement.
Also, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) was named as chief of the KMT campaign’s support group.
Chu’s national campaign headquarters are to be formally inaugurated today. He has been trailing in opinion polls far behind Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Chu said he decided to name Hu as his campaign manager because Hu is very familiar with electoral matters and has participated in almost every presidential election campaign in the country.
Chu said many people who had been unlikely to support him have now decided to do so out of concern for the nation.
He urged people who are disappointed with the KMT not to despair, but rather to come out and vote.
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