The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) female nominees for the city mayor and county commissioner elections yesterday marked International Women’s Day by declaring their support for women and gender equality, claiming that the party has accomplished more than the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in terms of achieving gender equality in politics.
Yesterday’s news conference was attended by six of the KMT’s seven female candidates for the nine-in-one local elections scheduled for Nov. 24, including KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) for Taichung, KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) for Changhua County, KMT Legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) for Yunlin County, former Chiayi mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) for Chiayi, KMT Legislator Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) for Hualien County and Luodong Township (羅東) Mayor Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) for Yilan County.
Taitung County Council Speaker Rao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), the candidate for Taitung County commissioner, could not attend due to a prior engagement.
Seven of the 12 candidates nominated for the city mayor and county commissioner races by the KMT so far are women, while the DPP has nominated zero, Huang said.
Women should be the masters of their own lives, Lu said, calling for legislation that would extend women’s maternity leave from eight weeks to 12 weeks.
Wang and Chang said that they propose fairer treatment of women and encourage younger women to have more children.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) attended the news conference to wish the nominees success in their campaigns.
When he was Taiwan’s premier, he established the Executive Yuan’s Gender Equality Committee and the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultative Committee, said Wu, who served as premier from 2009 to 2012 and then was vice president from 2012 to 2016.
During his eight-year presidency, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also worked hard to push for gender equality, Wu said.
The KMT has already nominated 12 candidates — five men and seven women, Wu said, adding that “women can hold up half the sky.”
[Taipei Times, 2018-03-09]
