'Little Hot Pepper' Hung Hsiu-chu seeks KMT presidential candidacy in Taiwan
Stung by poor showing in regional polls, big names open door for Hung Hsiu-chu
When Hung Hsiu-chu ran against former acting Kuomintang chairman Wu Po-hsiung for the party chairmanship eight years ago, the veteran lawmaker garnered only 13 per cent of the votes, against Wu's 87 per cent.
Many bet on her defeat when Hung, 68, became the first KMT member to sign up in April for the party's primary for its 2016 presidential candidate, saying she could hardly outshine the other heavyweights.
Not any more. Now the deputy legislative speaker, Hung won an average approval rating of more than 46 per cent and passed the threshold of 30 per cent to be nominated as the KMT presidential candidate.
Other hopefuls, including Vice-President Wu Den-yih, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng and KMT chairman Eric Chu, all decided not to run in the race, months after the party's landslide defeat in regional elections.
The party's top decision-making body, the central standing committee, affirmed her qualification on Wednesday and officially recommended her to the party's national congress as the presidential candidate on Friday.
"I know people say I overestimate myself," she told Phoenix Television. "I've never been named as a hopeful. People say I can't compete [with other KMT heavyweights] in terms of connections or money … And they are right."