KUOMINTANG (KMT) chairman Lee Teng-hui faces a revolt in the party ranks over the composition of the 31-member Central Standing Committee (CSC), the full list for which will be endorsed by the Central Committee plenum today.
Last night, KMT authorities announced 15 names that Mr Lee had recommended to the 210 Central Committee members, who will today pick 16 CSC members from their ranks.
Over the weekend, the chairman exercised powers given to him by the newly-revised party constitution, by appointing 15 members to the KMT's highest council.
Taiwan political analysts said that while Central Committee members did not have to follow Mr Lee's recommendations, the 15 politicians named last night had a high chance of being elected.
Mr Lee's choices, however, immediately drew criticism from not only members of the opposition Non-Mainstream Faction, but also legislators and liberal intellectuals attending the 14th Party Congress, which closed yesterday.
They accused Mr Lee and his advisers of stifling dissident voices and of rewarding their loyalists with CSC seats.
''The chairman keeps appointing people of the same backgrounds and calibre to the Standing Committee,'' said scholar Feng Ting-kuo, a congress delegate. ''How can these people be expected to institute reform?'' The 15 politicians Mr Lee recommended to sit on the CSC were: former army chief of staff, Soong Chang-chih; vice-premier, Hsu Li-teh; Vice-President of the legislature, Wang Chin-ping; vice-head of the Examination, Yuan Mao Kao-wen; head of the KMT caucus in the National Assembly, Hsieh Lung-sheng; legislator, John Kuan; Minister for Economic Planning and Development, Vincent Siew; Mainland Affairs Council chief, Huang Kun-huei; Overseas Chinese Affairs chief, Chang Hsiao-yen; Commission for Retired Servicemen chief, Chou Shih-pin; Taipei Mayor, Wang Ta-chou; Kaohsiung Mayor, Wu Den-yih; Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, Chien Ming-ching; Speaker of the Taipei Assembly, Chen Chien-chih; and Deputy Secretary-General of the KMT, Shieh Shen-san.
