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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Reevaluation of the Effects of Kuomintang's Party Primary System

Reevaluation of the Effects of Kuomintang's Party Primary System

Chung-Li Wu
1998 / 11
Volume 5, No.2

pp.129-160
Paper

Abstract

The employment of the party primary has been controversial within the Kuomintang(KMT),critics charging it with some flaws: intra-party factions hindered the nominated candidates by support-ing opposition candidates in general elections; those who won in primary elections proved not necessarily electable in general elec-tions, since party identifiers were different from the electorate; it frequently led to sharper power struggles; it worsened the illegal practice of violence and vote-buying; aspirants underwent two cam-paigns for one election, spending energy and money twice; Taiwan's political climate seemed inapt for the practice of U.S.-style primary election system. By analyzing relevant data, I argue that the core problem of the party primary was its lack of fairness because KMT party cadres tried to monopolize the candidate selec-tion and thus failed to remain neutral. Throughout this essay and in the conclusion, I note that any political party appears likely to open its candidate selection practice in an attempt to continue its political dominance.

Keywords

Kuomintang

The party primary

Candidate selection

Nomination

Party reform

Local faction

The Huang Fu Hsing party headquarters

Political mobilization