The Chinese Nationalist Party’s plan to set a date and new guidelines for its presidential primary could be postponed after the party canceled KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) planned meetings with former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
The KMT had originally planned to pass the guidelines and set a date for the primary in a Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday and announce the results on Wednesday next week.
However, the party on Saturday canceled Wu’s planned meetings with Chu and Wang after Chu insisted that the meetings be public.
Photo: CNA
The party would discuss its response before and during Wednesday’s meeting and ensure that things are handled in a way easy for all to accept, KMT spokesman Ouyang Long (歐陽龍) said yesterday.
While the plan to set a date and establish guidelines for the primary could be postponed, they would still be completed by the end of this month as planned, without affecting the primary, he said.
KMT Central Standing Committee member William Hsu (徐弘庭) criticized the decision, saying that the party can no longer afford such delays.
If the party wants to nominate Han, it should do so and bring the case to the committee, he said.
If it is worried about a lack of support, then it should initiate a national convention, Hsu added.
The party must take action now or it would remain stuck on whether to enlist Han in the presidential race, he said, adding that discussing guidelines and a date for the primary before Wu has met anyone “makes no sense.”
Committee member Yao Chiang-ling (姚江臨) expressed a similar opinion, saying that the best way would be for Wu to talk to all potential candidates before passing a set of guidelines that must be followed.
Committee member Tseng Wen-pei (曾文培) urged Wu to be more direct in his approach.
When then-KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) was replaced by Chu in 2015, the party did not discuss the plan with Hung in advance, he said, adding that Wu does not need the consent of all primary candidates.
A majority of low-level party members agree that Han should be enlisted for the presidential race, he said, adding that events could unfold in three ways.
First, the party could set down guidelines and a date for the primary on Wednesday and require all primary candidates to adhere to them, although it would lead to serious divisions later on, he said.
Second, the party could conduct a poll to gauge public support for Chu, Wang and Han, and nominate one of them according to the results without holding further meetings with each candidate, Hsu said.
Third, it could postpone Wednesday’s discussion for the guidelines and the date until Wu has had a chance to meet with all three potential candidates, especially Han, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and