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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 KMT backs motion to nominate mayor
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu holds a package of beverages while visiting vendors at a shopping festival yesterday in Kaohsiung. Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
DOUBLE TROUBLE: To ‘avoid unnecessary trouble,’ the KMT also passed a proposal to remove a requirement that a sitting president must double as party chairperson
By Ann Maxon / Staff reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Central Standing Committee yesterday passed proposals to nominate Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu （韓國瑜） as the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election and voted to lift a rule that requires a KMT president to double as the party’s chairperson.
All passed proposals would be submitted to the KMT’s national convention, scheduled for July 28 at New Taipei City’s Banciao Stadium, for final confirmation, the party said.
The proposal to remove a clause in the party’s charter requiring the member serving as president to double as party chairman starting from the day they take office would allow KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih （吳敦義） to complete his term instead of stepping down on May 20 next year if Han is elected president.
Under the proposed amendment, if Han wants to double as chairman while serving as president, he would have to compete in the next chairperson election.
The amendment would ensure that each chairperson completes their term and avoids unnecessary trouble if the president has no intention of serving as party chairman, the KMT said.
Another proposal would allow the chairperson to pick five KMT mayors or commissioners to join the committee.
Having mayors and commissioners in the party’s decisionmaking body would help increase its support among members of the public, KMT spokesman Ouyang Long （歐陽龍） said.
While committee member Lee Chao-ping （李昭平） proposed giving legislator-at-large seats to all four presidential primary candidates — Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou （郭台銘）, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu （朱立倫）, former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei （周錫瑋） and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung （張亞中） — Ouyang said there was not much discussion on the matter during the meeting.
“This would require lots of communication, because they must agree to such an arrangement,” Ouyang said.
The four are not required to run in elections, but would play important roles in the party, he said.
“I sincerely believe all of them would support the KMT and work to help the party win in next year’s election,” he added.
The KMT on Monday announced that Han beat Gou, his closest challenger, by 17 percentage points in the party’s primary.
In the meeting, Wu reiterated that the primary was “the most fair and transparent primary the party has held in the past decades.”
It was widely praised and showed that the KMT had taken a important step forward, he added.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
