Dumped and replaced: Eric Chu to lead ticket after Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party kicks out unpopular Hung Hsiu-chu
Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang yesterday dumped its unpopular presidential candidate three months before an election that the pro-independence opposition is strongly favoured to win.
Delegates at an extraordinary party congress voted overwhelmingly to nullify Hung Hsiu-chu's nomination and selected party chairman Eric Chu to stand in the January 16 polls.
Chu, mayor of suburban New Taipei City and a former accounting professor, had earlier declined the nomination, but is expected to accept it to help salvage the party's fading election hopes.
The KMT has lost favour over its pro-Beijing policies; polls had put Hung about 20 percentage points behind Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Ing-wen, who wants greater caution in relations with the mainland; Hung backed a pro-unification stance and also supported a peace deal with the mainland.
Known as Xiao La Jiao or "little hot pepper" for her straight-talking style, Hung had refused to voluntarily stand aside, forcing yesterday's vote.
READ MORE: Taiwan's KMT accused of bribing presidential candidate to abandon run
About 300 of Hung's supporters protested outside the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, in Taipei where the vote took place.
"She stood up while the KMT heavyweights dared not take on the responsibility," supporter Keng Tsun-chieh said.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said they were investigating claims the KMT tried to bribe Hung to step down - allegations she and the party both denied.
Hung's nomination in July formed Taiwan's first presidential race between female candidates from the two major parties.
READ MORE: Taiwan's presidential hopeful refuses to quit amid low support and rumours of KMT replacing her
However, the veteran legislator and former teacher was seen as lacking executive experience and had focused much of her campaign on the party's already embattled cross-strait policy.
A win for Tsai would throw up new questions about Taiwan's relations with Beijing, which claims the island as its own territory, to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Taiwan's current President Ma Ying-jeou, of the KMT, who was first elected in 2008, is constitutionally barred from seeking a third four-year term.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
