TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party reels from its recent referendum upset, People First Party member and commentator Lee Cheng-hao (李正皓) has said China Broadcasting Chairperson Chao Shao-kang (趙少康) is the one to blame for the KMT’s ballot box defeat.

All four issues on the referendum that had been proposed by the KMT were defeated on Saturday (Dec. 18), covering nuclear power, ractopamine-containing pork, a liquid natural gas terminal, and future referendum scheduling. On Saturday, Chao said the party should not look for “war criminals” — meaning those blue legislators viewed as having undermined the campaign.

Yet two days later, Chao said, “Hou You-ih (侯友宜) has let us down; he is the biggest war criminal,” according to a Liberty Times report.

Lee has fired back: “Actually, Chao Shao-Kang is the KMT’s biggest war criminal and its greatest source of instability.”

“Does he have the IQ of a three-year-old? Or is the average person’s IQ that of a three-year-old?” Lee said in an effort to mock Chao’s blame game.

Lee said that the entire tone of the KMT campaign was driven by the “battle-ready blue” (戰鬥藍) — a faction led by Chao. He said internal party communication was sorely lacking and that this faction did not effectively discuss their policy platform with KMT leaders of local jurisdictions before plowing ahead with their social media blitz.

Lee claimed the battle-ready blue faction makes a lot of noise but cannot get a lot of votes, so when reality hits as the ballot count comes out, the result always falls far short of their expectations.

“Who else is there to blame but Chao?” asked Lee. Chao’s strategic mistake in picking the wrong “battlefield” makes him the real “war criminal,” he added.