Former New Taipei City mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday closed his social media accounts, on which he had been actively interacting with the public.
Chu on Dec. 25 last year became the first KMT member to announce his bid for the presidency in next year’s elections.
Responding to supporters online about the account closures, Chu’s office said that he would provide an explanation to the media today.
Before midnight on Tuesday, when all accounts were simultaneously closed, Chu maintained an active presence on Facebook, Instagram and Line.
Today, Chu is to visit Lienchiang County, also known as Matsu, and is on Saturday to meet with KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to discuss the party’s presidential primary.
Wu is to individually meet with each of the party’s presidential hopefuls to get their feedback on the primary process, the KMT Central Committee said.
Wu on Tuesday met with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) — who Wu said he hopes accepts an invitation to join the primary — and is this afternoon to meet with KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Wu initially planned to meet with Chu on April 7, but the meeting was delayed over a disagreement on how the meetings should be conducted, with Chu insisting on open meetings and Wu advocating closed-door sessions.
After the two failed to reach an agreement, Chu said that it would be best to delay the meeting, although Wu said that the meetings were not about “putting on a show.”
Chu later agreed to Wu’s conditions.
All of the meetings would be held behind closed doors, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Cheng Mei-hua (程美華) said.
Afterward, Cheng is to speak to the media on behalf of the candidates, unless they choose to address the media on their own, she said.
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