KMT nominates female candidates for county magistrate elections

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) The Kuomintang (KMT) Central Standing Committee on Wednesday nominated Jian Township head Yu Shu-chen (游淑貞) as its election candidate for Hualien County magistrate, lawmaker Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) for Kinmen County magistrate and lawmaker Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) for Yunlin County magistrate.

KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said the three nominees are the "most outstanding, most qualified female power representatives" in the party.

Cheng said the KMT has achieved strong results in counties and cities it governs and that those results rely on the party's female leadership.

In Hualien, the nomination of Yu comes as several other figures in the party have indicated their plans to run for Hualien County magistrate, including Hualien County Council speaker Chang Chun (張峻).

The party chose Yu as its nominee based on results from an internal poll but Ho Chi-sheng (何啟聖) and Yeh Yao-hui (葉耀輝), who sought the nomination, have repeatedly said the process was unfair. Yeh also filed a lawsuit over the issue.

Yeh said Yu's nomination would not affect his own determination to run.

He said he plans to commission a polling company in May to conduct comparative polling with Yu to provide the party leadership with a basis for deciding on whether to change the nominee.

Meanwhile, independent Hualien County councilor Wei Chia-hsien (魏嘉賢) announced after the Lunar New Year that he would run for Hualien County magistrate.

The KMT completed its first round of nominations in December last year for local elections scheduled to take place on Nov. 28 this year.

Those nominations included lawmaker Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) for mayor of Tainan, lawmaker Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) for mayor of Kaohsiung, lawmaker Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) for Pingtung County magistrate and Taitung County Council speaker Wu Hsiu-hua (吳秀華) for Taitung County magistrate.