TAIPEI: The Kuomintang (KMT) will dispose of its business assets by next June and transform the party into an "election machine," a party official said yesterday.

KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung said the Central Investment Holding Co, the only party asset that has been put in trust, will be auctioned off by June after two previous failures.

King said that political parties operating businesses is not acceptable amid contemporary democratic trends and in any free and democratic environment, which is why KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou has also repeatedly called for party-run businesses to be terminated as soon as possible.

King said the party's transformation is not a response to persistent criticism but rather a move made out of necessity.

"If the party does not re-engineer itself, it will not be able to develop in a sustainable way," King said.

The opposition alleges that the KMT's assets were illegally amassed during its decades of authoritarian rule in the second half of the 20th century when the lines between government and party were blurred.

King said the party will be turned into a powerful election machine revolving around the organization department, which will be complemented by a publicity department. The organization and development department will be restructured and its staff streamlined.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/31/2009 page2)