Candidate's conservative views alienating public, political peers
Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party on Wednesday agreed to call an extraordinary party congress to discuss a proposal to replace its candidate Hung Hsiu-chu for the regional leadership bid in 2016.
The KMT Central Standing Committee unanimously passed the resolution to call the congress on Wednesday, which is believed to be the first step in replacing Hung, reported the Taiwan-based Central News Agency.
"The purpose of the extraordinary congress is to find consensus, unity, in order to obtain victory," said committee spokeswoman Lin Yi-hua.
"Our enemy is not within the party," she added.
Hung said calling the emergency congress was "unfair," and criticized the party for not facing the root of its dwindling popularity. "With just 100 days to go before elections ... our party's seniors and standing committee are calling for change, to attempt to force (me) out," she said.
There is no official information regarding when the extraordinary party congress will be held.
The KMT information department said it hoped the meeting can be held before the end of October.
Meanwhile, speculations run high that KMT Chairman Eric Chu Li-luan, who is also the mayor of New Taipei City, may replace Hung in the regional leader election on January 16, 2016.
Known as "little hot pepper" for her straight-talking style, Hung was nominated in July, but is so far trailing behind opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party in the polls.
Her conservative views have reportedly alienated both the public and her political peers. There have been rumors that Hung will be forced to quit the leadership bid due to the low poll results.
However, Hung has vowed to continue in the face of mounting criticism and rumors.
"I will stick with my original intentions and follow through my promise," Hung said at a Tuesday press conference in Taipei.
"There's no room anymore for personal doubts or wavering by the party," she added.
"Otherwise what we will lose is not just next year's elections, but also the last vestiges of expectation, respect and trust people have in the party."
The KMT suffered its worst ever defeat in regional elections in 2014. With the party widely predicted for defeat in the 2016 election, KMT big hitters sat on the sidelines, leaving unlikely Hung the only candidate.
Chu also confirmed on Tuesday that he had discussed dissent within the party about Hung's candidacy and low polling figures, without any comments on whether he was considering taking over the candidacy.
