Chairman of the ruling KMT Eric Chu has replaced Hung Hsiu-chu as the party’s presidential candidate. The KMT made the decision Saturday afternoon at an extraordinary party meeting in Taipei.
Of the nearly 900 members present at the meeting, the majority were in favor of replacing Hung with Chu. Those in favor of replacing Hung included President Ma Ying-jeou, former Vice President Lien Chan and Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng.
Hung's replacement comes less than three months after she was nominated as the KMT's presidential candidate in mid-July. There were mounting calls to replace her because she had been lagging far behind the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen in opinion polls.
Hung said that she accepts the KMT’s decision and that she will always be a KMT member, though she questions the party's legitimacy of replacing her.