The KMT’s 2024 presidential candidate will be recruited. Zhang Yazhong, the principal of the Sun Wen School, who has declared his candidacy for the presidency, suggested that we should return to the primary election. Otherwise, if the conscripts are only passively “recruited”, the social perception will not be good.

(File photo, photo by reporter Fang Bin)

[Reporter Lin Liangsheng/Taipei Report] The KMT’s 2024 presidential candidate will be recruited, and Zhang Yazhong, the principal of Sunwen School, who has declared his candidacy for the presidency, suggested that we should return to the primary election. It will not be good, and the recruitment will lead to more problems in the future. We should return to the use of primary elections to select candidates.

KMT Secretary-General Huang Jianting met with Zhang Yazhong last week and informed the KMT that the 2024 presidential candidate will be recruited. Zhang Yazhong said today that he asked Huang if he had any specific candidates for recruitment?

Huang said no.

He also asked that the recruited should be the strongest in the party, so what kind of criteria should be used to test it?

What is the timetable and procedure for recruitment?

Huang said that there are currently no relevant guidelines for recruitment.

Please read on...

Zhang Yazhong said that the primary election includes "registration, policy release, joint decision of party members and polls", but the recruitment is "no registration, no policy release, and the Party Central Committee decides the candidates."

Primaries are the norm for selection, enlistment is the exception.

Since it is an exception, there must be a reason for the exception. For example, a certain person is currently the strongest candidate in the party, but due to various reasons, it is not convenient for individuals to express their opinions to participate in the primary election. .

Zhang Yazhong said that Huang Jianting's speech reflects that there are no relevant criteria for recruitment, which is tantamount to giving the party chairman a blank check. With the overlord clause, he can decide who to recruit in the future. , will affect the legitimacy of future candidates, will be spurned by the middle voters, and will hurt the unity needed for elections.

Zhang Yazhong believes that the other two biggest disadvantages of recruiting are that it is fine if the recruited has the willingness to participate in the election actively, but if the recruited is only passively "recruited", the social perception will not be good.

In addition, because there is no opportunity to explain the policy, it means that it has not passed the test within the party or reached a consensus before going down the mountain to fight against the opponent, and the risk is very high.

In addition, Zhang Yazhong said that the variable of recruitment is "impermanence". For example, when the recruitment was high, the polls were very high, but then the polls continued to decline.

Candidates who pass the primary election will also encounter the same "impermanence". However, the primary election is based on a complete procedure to select candidates. The whole party can easily respond with joint efforts, but the consequences of recruitment are borne by the party chairman alone, and the centripetal force of solidarity may be weak. some.

Zhang Yazhong pointed out that although the party chairman Zhu Lilun has made the decision to "recruit", but based on his love for the party, he still hopes that the party central committee can return to the primary election system, especially when there are no specific recruits at present. It will give people the impression that there are melon fields and plums, and there are special purposes. It is not good for the party chairman, and it is definitely not a positive number for the 2024 election campaign.

Zhang Yazhong believes that the primary election is not troublesome, but there are more problems in recruiting future candidates.

Perhaps the truth is harsh, but it is indeed earnest, and the nomination of the Kuomintang presidential candidate should be returned to the primary election.