The New Power Party recently announced it is drafting a set of rules in order to nominate a presidential candidate, and NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang is the one of the top choices. On Sept. 19, Huang said he has no desire to run.


Many New Power Party members have called on the party to nominate its own candidate for the 2020 presidential election. In August, Hsu Yung-ming took over as chairperson. On Sept. 18, the party issued a press release saying it is drafting a set of rules in order to nominate a presidential candidate and NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang is one of the top choices. In response, Huang said he has no desire to be drafted by the party. He added that what's most important now is his work as a legislator, and asked everyone to show more concern for the rights and benefits of Chunghwa Picture Tubes employees following the announcement of plant closures.

I have no desire, and that is not on my to-do list.

In response, the party's central committee said it is establishing the procedures to nominate a presidential candidate in order to solidify its identity and it will continue to communicate with Huang. Meanwhile, a member of the party's policy decision committee revealed that the committee was not consulted over the issues of establishing a presidential candidate nomination process and drafting Huang before the news was announced, and the committee feels slighted. This member also expressed concerns that this would lead to a new tide of departures.

The New Power Party actually has related methods and regulations for the nomination of legislators representing constituencies and legislators at large. However, when it comes to nominating a presidential candidate, no regulations have been drafted. Even if we take on this task, it doesn't mean that it is for 2020. It's for the future, to prepare for future nominations.

At the least, the party's policy decision committee should have been consulted, or it should have gone through a general assembly. There should have been sufficient discussion on strategies before the work started. The chairperson or secretariat shouldn't be in charge. That's why I urge the central committee to respect the New Power Party's decision-making mechanism.

The central committee said formulating the nomination process is part of an effort to make up for procedural deficiencies, and it must take place before the policy decision committee can discuss whether the party should nominate a candidate. It also said the aim behind nominating a candidate isn't to discuss terms with other political parties or swap interests.



針對2020總統選舉，時代力量內部一直有自推人選的聲音，結果新主席徐永明8月上任後，18號晚上，時力就發出新聞稿，強調將草擬總統候選人提名辦法，並且將徵召立委黃國昌，做為優先考量之一，引發討論。對此，黃國昌表示，對徵召沒有意願，還強調目前最重要，是立委的工作，也請大家多關心華映關廠員工權益等的問題。

時力立委 黃國昌表示：「對於我來講，我自己沒意願，這也不在我的待辦事項當中。」

黃國昌沒意願，但時力黨中央強調，訂定提名辦法，是政黨主體性的展現，也會和黃國昌溝通，但決策委員批評，要訂提名辦法徵召黃國昌等事，都沒有經過決策委員討論，就放出消息，感到不被尊重，也擔憂再爆發另一波退黨潮。

時力秘書長 吳佩芸表示：「時代力量其實在分區跟不分區的提名，都有相關的辦法跟規章，但在總統候選人的部分，其實沒有擬定，那其實這個作業上面擬定的話，也不一定是針對2020，也是對於未來的，就是提名去做準備。」

時力決策委員 蕭新晟表示：「應該透過黨內的決策委員會，甚至是黨代表大會，來充分的討論，擬定戰略之後，然後才開始進行，而不是說主席或是秘書處，他們自己說了算，所以我覺得還是呼籲黨中央，要尊重時代力量的決策機制。」

黨中央強調，擬定提名辦法，是程序上需要補強的部分，才能讓決策委員可以討論是否自提總統候選人，同時澄清，提出總統人選，不是為了和其他政黨談條件、換利益。