The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday canceled its weekly Central Standing Committee (CSC) meeting reportedly due to a new wave of intraparty fighting between outgoing KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and chairman-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) over the right to nominate Central Committee members.
According to the party’s agenda, Central Committee members are to be nominated by Hung on June 14, with the election of party representatives and Central Standing Committee members to be held on July 7 and July 29 respectively.
This means that Wu, who is scheduled to assume the chairmanship on Aug. 20, when the party’s national congress is also to be held, will not be able to nominate candidates for the elections.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
Sources said Wu was planning to raise the issue during the committee meeting yesterday in a bid to secure nominating rights.
Hung responded by canceling the meeting.
A source from Hung’s faction yesterday accused Wu of attempting to “wipe out” her camp.
The alleged infighting occurred despite a written pledge by the six candidates for the chairperson election last month to promote party and to rebuild the pan-blue camp.
A source from KMT headquarters yesterday presented minutes taken during past Central Standing Committee meetings showing that the upcoming elections have been organized in the same manner as the previous two elections, in which the party chief nominated the candidates.
In response to remarks by more than 20 CSC members that the election rules breached the KMT’s charter and that they would take the issue to a court, the source said that could be a solution, but it would damage the party’s public image.
However, considering that a majority of the CSC members oppose Hung, it is unlikely that the her camp would be able to stop changes to the election rules during the committee’s meeting on Wednesday next week, the source said.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said that Hung’s postponement of yesterday’s meeting because she was afraid of losing her nomination rights has made the party a joke.
Comparing the issue to “domestic affairs,” she said that it could be resolved by facilitating communication.
KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said that many items in the run-up to the chairperson handover needed coordination and that procedural issues should be addressed.
The party should demonstrate unity so that its would not be compromised by its adversaries in a period of challenges, he said.
Meanwhile, Wu has been faced with the first conundrum since his election — making up for a NT$10 million (US$332,204) shortage in this month’s salary payments to party employees.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsio-kuang
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