The Presidential Office yesterday denied that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wanted to return to the chairmanship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after Saturday’s elections.
A story in the latest issue of Chinese-language Next Magazine, published yesterday, said that Ma wanted to return to the KMT’s top post and would seek the seat in accordance with the party’s regulations.
The magazine said that since KMT Chairman and presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) would have to resign if the KMT loses at the polls, Ma who is “chairman ex officio” according to the KMT’s constitution, could return to the position as Chu was elected to the job in January last year only to fill the rest of Ma’s term after he resigned as chairman on Dec. 3, 2014, to take responsibility for the party’s poor showing in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29.
Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said Ma has no intention of returning to the KMT chairmanship and there is no regulation in the party’s constitution concerning such a return.
“That is not a possibility,” Chen said.
People should stop circulating such rumors as the president had already made it clear during a visit to Nantou County on Nov. 24 last year that such speculation was unfounded, he said.
The magazine cited a source in the pan-blue camp as saying that Ma that has sought support from Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), via Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), for a return to the chairmanship.
According to the Next story, Gou said that National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲) has voiced his support for Ma’s return as KMT chairman because Beijing does not wish to see the KMT crumble after the elections.
The story said that Beijing has asked former vice president and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to feel out Wang’s attitude over the matter, but has not received an answer.
Chen was not the only one to dismiss the magazine story, Hon Hai did as well.
And when Wang was asked by reporters whether he would support Ma’s re-election, he said: “[Let’s] talk about it later.”
Chu’s campaign manager, former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡自強), said the possibility of Ma’s return “is extremely slim,” adding that Ma resigned as chairman due to the [2014] election rout so “I think it would be difficult for him to come back.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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