2019 Kuomintang presidential primary
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The 2019 Kuomintang presidential primary was held after 22 May 2019 through a series of nationwide opinion polls in order to determine its nominee for the President of the Republic of China in the 2020 presidential election.[1]
Background
Early contenders
In late 2018, the four heavyweights in the Kuomintang, incumbent party chairman and former Vice President Wu Den-yih, former party chairman and 2016 presidential candidate Eric Chu, former President of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng and former President Ma Ying-jeou emerged as the potential candidates for the 2020 presidential election. On 26 November 2018, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office and incumbent Taipei City Councillor Lo Chih-chiang became the first candidate who announced his candidacy on Facebook.[2][3] He later withdrew his candidacy on 7 April 2019.[4]
On 25 December 2018, former Kuomintang chairman and 2016 presidential candidate Eric Chu announced that he would run in the 2020 presidential race when he stepped down on 25 December 2018 as Mayor of New Taipei City, becoming the first big-name politician to throw his hat in the ring.[5] It was followed by National Taiwan University professor Chang Ya-chung who announced his candidacy on 7 January 2019.[6]
In the December 2018 mayoral elections, the KMT received a massive victory by capturing 15 of 22 municipalities and counties, with former legislator Han Kuo-yu elected as Mayor of Kaohsiung, the deep-green Democratic Progressive Party-held city for the past two decades. The sensations created by Han during the campaign sparked speculations whether he would become the presidential candidate for KMT in 2020.[7] The richest man in Taiwan and the founder and chairman of electronic company Foxconn Terry Gou was also reported to be interested in running in the election as a pan-Blue candidate.
On 27 February, the party passed a resolution decided its primary to be based on a 70-30 weighing of public opinion polls and party member votes, although it has not ruled out the possibility of drafting the strongest candidate in an all-out effort to win back power, which was seen to be reserved Han Kuo-yu, the party's best performing candidate in the polls.[7] On 7 March, Wan Jyng-ping announced his candidacy.[7]
Controversies over the primary method continued, as party chairman Wu Den-yih proposed to only allow KMT members to decide the party's presidential candidate which drew criticism, with some questioning whether he aimed to rig the game for himself. Wu later declined to run on 11 April.[8]
Gou runs
Terry Gou announced his presidential bid by joining the KMT presidential primary on 17 April, citing sea goddess Matsu instructing him to come out and do good for the suffering of the people, and bring peace and prosperity to Taiwan in his dream.[9] As his party membership was frozen after he had not paid the annual fee so a long time, Wu restored Guo's KMT membership by awarding him an honorary member certificate in order to enable him to run in the primary. Guo also stated that he would not accept to be drafted to run.
Han Kuo-yu, Gou's potential rival, announced on 23 April that he was "willing to take responsibility" for the development of Taiwan but was "unable" to participate in the party's primary in its current form. He expressed his disapproval of the "closed-door negotiations" within the party and called for reform.[10] Han's announcement sparked internal strife between Han supporters and the party authorities. In order to settle the differences, the party adopted a resolution to put in place special guidelines to include all its presidential hopefuls, including Han, in its primary on the next day, and also switch the primary method from 70-30 weighing of public opinion polls and party member votes to fully being determined by opinion polls.[11]
Candidates
Declared candidates
Name | Born | Current or previous positions | Announced | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Eric Chu |
June 7, 1961 (age 63) Taoyuan County, Taiwan |
Mayor of New Taipei (2016–2018; 2012–2015) | December 25, 2018 | [12] |
![]() Chang Ya-chung |
December 1954 (age 69) Taichung City, Taiwan |
Professor of the National Taiwan University | January 7, 2019 | [13] |
![]() Chou Hsi-wei |
March 11, 1958 (age 66) Changhua County, Taiwan |
Magistrate of Taipei County (2005–2010) | February 26, 2019 | [14] |
![]() Terry Gou |
October 8, 1950 (age 73) Taipei County, Taiwan |
Founder and Chairman of Foxconn | April 17, 2019 | [15] |
![]() Han Kuo-yu |
June 17, 1957 (age 67) Taipei County, Taiwan |
Mayor of Kaohsiung (2018–present) | June 5, 2019 | [16] |
Withdrawn candidates
The candidates in this section have withdrawn or suspended their campaigns.
Candidate | Born | Experience | Campaign | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Lo Chih-chiang |
March 26, 1970 (age 54) Hualien City, Taiwan |
Taipei City Councillor (2018–present) | November 26, 2018 Withdrawn: April 7, 2019 |
[17][18] |
![]() Wang Jin-pyng |
March 17, 1941 (age 83) Takao Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan |
Member of the Legislative Yuan (1976–present) | March 7, 2019 Withdrawn: June 6, 2019 |
[7][19] |
Declined candidates
- Ma Ying-jeou, former President of the Republic of China 2008–2016
- Wu Den-yih, former Vice President of the Republic of China 2012–2016[20][21][22]
Schedule
On 15 May, Kuomintang Central Standing Committee decided to change the format of the primary to a single nationwide opinion poll and to name its candidate by late July. The public opinion poll would be commissioned to five different polling institutions, each with a sample size of not less than 3,000 respondents. A list of candidates will be announced on 10 June, followed by a series of televised forums across Taiwan from 23 June to 4 July in which the candidates would introduce their platforms. The nationwide opinion poll would be held from 5 to 15 July and the results would be released the next day. After that, the results will be submitted to the Central Standing Committee on 17 July for approval. The presidential candidate would be formally announced on 28 July at its national congress.[23]
The Kuomintang announced five primary contestants on June 10, 2019: Chang Ya-chung, Chou Hsi-wei, Eric Chu, Terry Gou, and Han Kuo-yu.[24][25]
Timeline
Primary winner | |
Defeated in primary | |
Withdrawn | |
Candidates announced | |
Debates | |
Polling starts | |
Polling ends | |
Results announced |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/q2380dczm7ntbuktm3nmu5ju127q727.png)
Opinion polling
Date | Pollster | Sample size | Ma | Chu | Wang | Wu | Han | Gou | Chou | Chang |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 July 2019 | Trend Poll | 3,000 | — | 14.9 | — | — | 34.3 | 29.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 |
9 July 2019 | EtToday | 2,271 | — | 11.9 | — | — | 28.0 | 29.5 | 0.7 | 2.3 |
21 June 2019 | EtToday | 5,021 | — | 9.9 | — | — | 28.2 | 25.7 | — | — |
18 June 2019 | EtToday | 4,047 | — | 9.0 | — | — | 31.1 | 24.7 | — | — |
11 June 2019 | EtToday | 4,047 | — | 7.1 | — | — | 29.5 | 24.4 | — | — |
4 June 2019 | Trend Poll | 1,287 | — | 17.4 | — | — | 35.2 | 28.4 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
28 May 2019 | Formsa | 1,086 | — | 11.6 | 7.5 | — | 22.0 | 17.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
16 May 2019 | Fount Media | 1,075 | — | 17.4 | 15.8 | — | 30.6 | 22.2 | — | — |
13 May 2019 | EtToday | 2,875 | — | 8.2 | 7.6 | — | 29.3 | 22.8 | — | — |
30 April 2019 | China Times | 1,004 | — | 7.0 | 11.0 | — | 34.2 | 16.3 | — | — |
29 April 2019 | TVBS | 1,090 | — | 10.0 | 14.0 | — | 37.0 | 20.0 | — | — |
25 April 2019 | TVBS | 1,222 | — | 11.0 | 14.0 | — | 38.0 | 18.0 | — | — |
21 April 2019 | ETtoday | 7,868 | — | 6.5 | 7.7 | — | 26.2 | 24.0 | — | — |
21 April 2019 | UDN | 1,178 | — | 13.0 | 11.0 | — | 26.0 | 19.0 | — | — |
2 April 2019 | Fount Media | 1,079 | — | 18.6 | 19.1 | — | 25.4 | 22.9 | — | — |
— | 23.6 | 22.0 | — | 32.2 | — | — | — | |||
18 December 2018 | TPOF | 1,082 | — | 54.3 | 25.5 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — |
54.3 | 4.0 | 25.0 | 2.5 | — | — | — | — |
Results
Results of the primary were announced on 15 July 2019.[26][27] Han Kuo-yu received 44.805 percent of the vote, followed by Terry Gou at 27.73%, and Eric Chu's 17.90%. Both Chou Hsi-wei and Chang Ya-chung polled in the single digits, at 6.02% and 3.54% respectively.[28][29]
2019 Kuomintang Republic of China presidential primary results | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidates | Place | Result | ||
Han Kuo-yu | Nominated | 44.81% | ||
Terry Gou | 2nd | 27.73% | ||
Eric Chu | 3rd | 17.90% | ||
Chou Hsi-wei | 4th | 6.02% | ||
Chang Ya-chung | 5th | 3.54% |
See also
References
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- ^ 林瑩真 (2018-11-26). "國民黨首發!羅智強宣布:「四階段」選2020總統". TVBS NEWS.
- ^ 陳洛薇 (2018-11-26). "要當國民黨的鯰魚 羅智強宣布參選總統". 聯合新聞網.
- ^ "吳朱會破局 羅智強:吳敦義應說自己選不選2020". 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ "KMT veteran Eric Chu announces bid for Taiwan presidency in 2020". The Straits Times. 2018-12-25.
- ^ "張亞中宣布參選2020總統 轉型內閣制、立委增至200名". ETtoday. 2019-01-07.
- ^ a b c d Liu, Kuan-ting; Wang, Flor (7 March 2019). "Former legislative speaker announces presidential bid". Central News Agency. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ "Wu Den-yih rules out presidential run". Taipei Times. 11 April 2019.
- ^ Everington, Keoni (17 April 2019). "Breaking News: Foxconn tycoon Terry Gou announces bid for Taiwan presidency". Taiwan News. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ "Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu passes on KMT primary, hints at presidential bid". Taiwan News. 23 April 2019.
- ^ "KMT decides to include Han Kuo-yu in presidential primary". Focus Taiwan. 2019-04-24.
- ^ 朱立倫卸新北市長 宣布投入2020總統選舉,中央社,2018-12-25
- ^ Maxon, Ann (8 January 2019). "Ex-Hung Hsiu-chu aide eyes presidential run". Taipei Times. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Hsu, Stacy (2 March 2019). "KMT brass might select candidate: Wu". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- ^ Shih, Hsiao-kuang; Hetherington, William (18 April 2019). "Hon Hai's Gou officially enters presidential race". Taipei Times.
- ^ "韓國瑜稱願意參加國民黨總統初選". RTHK. 2019-06-05.
- ^ 拋震撼彈!羅智強宣布4階段參選總統! China Times, 26 November 2018
- ^ 羅智強宣布不選總統了!要吳敦義「快徵召韓國瑜」
- ^ Yu, Hsiang; Chen, Ja-fo; Chung, Yu-chen (6 June 2019). "Former legislative speaker will not enter KMT presidential primary". Central News Agency. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ "2020總統人選誰是A、B、C咖?". 信傳媒. 2018-07-31.
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- ^ Wu Den-yih wins KMT chair election Taipei Times, 21 May 2017
- ^ "KMT to pick presidential candidate by means of nationwide poll". Focus Taiwan. 15 May 2019.
- ^ Maxon, Ann (11 June 2019). "Panel names five for KMT primary". Taipei Times. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ Wang, Cheng-chung; Wang, Evelyn (10 June 2019). "Five contenders to compete in KMT's presidential primary". Central News Agency. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
- ^ Jennings, Ralph (15 July 2019). "Taiwan party picks mayor over ex-Foxconn chief for 2020 run". Taiwan News. Associated Press. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Yeh, Joseph (15 July 2019). "Han Kuo-yu wins primary, to represent KMT in 2020 race". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Everington, Keoni (15 July 2019). "Breaking News: Han wins KMT primary poll for Taiwan presidential race". Taiwan News. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ Yeh, Joseph (15 July 2019). "Han Kuo-yu wins KMT primary for 2020 presidential race (update)". Central News Agency. Retrieved 15 July 2019.