Chang Li-shan quits run for Yunlin chief in shock for KMT

“I was greatly surprised by Chang Li-shan,” said Su, who did not show joy over the Kuomintang disarray in her county.

One easiest way out of the quandary is for the Kuomintang chairman to dissuade Chang Li-shan from withdrawing from the yearend race.

Wu Poh-hsiung, outgoing Kuomintang chairman, won't be persuasive enough. It takes President Ma Ying-jeou to name a new candidate and settle all intraparty rivalries.

But Ma will wait until October 17 to double as chairman of the ruling party. The Kuomintang rescheduled a national party congress where Ma would be sworn in as its chairman right after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan August 8-9, leaving in its wake more than 700 people killed and a third of Taiwan under flood waters and mudslides. It was originally set to take place on September 12.

Leaders of the ruling party urged President Ma to take over from Wu at once to tide over the party crisis, the source said.

Ma won't, his spokesman Tony Wang said.

“President Ma communicates excellently with Chairman Wu of the Kuomintang,” Wang said. “There's no barrier of communication between them,” he added.

Moreover, Wang said, Chang Chun-po who was President Ma's secretary-general is now the secretary-general of the Kuomintang.

“So, any and all matters concerning the selection of candidates will be settled smoothly,” Wang pointed out.

In other words, President Ma wants Wu and Chan to handle the crisis which may result in another election loss in December, further eroding the support for the ruling party.

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