Branding himself a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member “forever and ever,” Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday took legal action as he sought to invalidate a party ruling that revoked his membership.
The 72-year-old Wang, who has served as a lawmaker since he was 34, said he was “sad” about the decision because the KMT was like a “mother” to him, but added that he was facing the situation “calmly.”
Wang, a KMT legislator-at-large, has vowed to appeal to retain his membership, which, if revoked, will force him to forfeit his post as a lawmaker.
Photo: Mandy Cheng / AFP
The KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee yesterday withdrew Wang’s membership over his alleged involvement in illegally lobbying on behalf of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a legal case.
Wang denies any wrongdoing.
A few hours after the decision was made, the committee promptly delivered the document to the Central Election Commission (CEC) in order to invoke the necessary procedures to nullify Wang’s membership.
After receiving the notice, the election commission sent a letter to the legislature, as required by Article 73 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), in the evening to ask it to revoke Wang’s status as a lawmaker, CEC Vice Chairman Liu I-chou (劉義周) said.
The act does not specify how long the legislature will take to complete the procedure, but the CEC said it would name a KMT legislator-at-large to replace Wang within 15 days of receiving the legislature’s reply, Liu said.
Wang yesterday offered an apology to the public, saying he was sorry that former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) resigned over the incident and for the disturbances caused to society.
However, he also acted quickly to defend his standing in the party.
Former DPP lawmaker and attorney Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) filed an injunction against the revocation with the Taipei District Court, as well as a civil lawsuit seeking to overrule the KMT’s decision.
Chiu said that submitting an appeal to the KMT alone was not sufficient to prevent the party from rescinding Wang’s membership and suggested that the legislative speaker seek other judicial means to avoid irreparably damaging his legal rights.
Wang said he was considering bringing a civil lawsuit against the KMT to reverse the decision to revoke his membership.
Chiu said that former KMT lawmaker Hsu Shu-po (許舒博), who was expelled by the party because of his involvement in a legal case, had filed an injunction against the party and had his membership reinstated in 2011.
The decision to rescind Wang’s membership has aroused anger among several KMT members.
In Greater Kaohsiung, Wang’s hometown, 11 KMT borough wardens withdrew from the party to voice their discontent with his ejection.
KMT Legislator Chen Ken-te (陳根德) said the party was doomed to fail in future elections because by expelling Wang — who is favored by KMT pro-localization factions — it had shown that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was eager to distance the party from pro-localization forces.
Former Taipei EasyCard Corp (悠遊卡公司) chairman Sean Lien (連勝文), the eldest son of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), paid a visit to Wang in his legislative office, saying that whether the speaker was guilty in the influence-peddling case should be decided by a court, not a handful of people — an apparent reference to the KMT disciplinary committee.
“We are living in the 102th year of the Republic of China, not in the Ming Dynasty. No one in the country is above the law,” Sean Lien said.
His comments appeared to be a reference to a Ming-era intelligence unit known as Dong Chang (東廠), which had the power to spy on court officials, the gentry, academics and the army, and reported directly to the emperor. The unit could also arrest and interrogate such people if authorized to do so by the emperor.
Additional reporting by Jake Chung
‘DEMOCRATIC FISH’: Soichiro Hayashi said he wants to return Taiwan’s kindness after it helped with relief efforts after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami Japanese fish farmers are ready to help Taiwan after China banned Taiwanese grouper imports, the Sankei Shimbun reported yesterday. The Chinese General Administration of Customs suspended imports of the fish on Monday last week, citing prohibited chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline allegedly found in grouper imports since December last year. Soichiro Hayashi, president of the Hayashi Trout Farm in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, is leading the push for Taiwanese grouper imports, the newspaper said. His call has caught the attention of several large sushi chains, the report said. Hayashi, who is the Fukushima branch head of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan,
‘TROJAN HORSE’ SCHEME: The comment that a bridge would allow China’s PLA to easily launch an attack shows ‘a lack of backbone,’ Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said Critics accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of being oblivious to national security concerns after he proposed constructing a bridge to link Kinmen and China’s Xiamen (廈門). Ko, who is also the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, made the proposal when presiding over the opening ceremony of the party’s office in Kinmen on Saturday. He said the bridge could solve Kinmen’s population, electricity and garbage problems, as well as serve as a shortcut for leaving or entering Taiwan without traveling via Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport). He also proposed building a hospital in Kinmen to attract people who are seeking medical treatment in
OVER THE HUMP: In a seven-day period ending on Wednesday, the nation reported 366,628 new cases, down 19 percent from the 451,358 reported in the previous week The nation might further open up to more arrivals in the next two months, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 48,283 new local COVID-19 cases, down from more than 50,000 in the previous few days. Taiwan on Wednesday last week introduced a plan to allow up to 25,000 arrivals per week as part of efforts to gradually reopen borders, which includes reducing mandatory quarantines for inbound travelers from seven to three days, followed by four days in “self-initiated epidemic prevention.” The quota covers inbound Taiwanese arrivals, businesspeople and migrant workers. Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said
CECC UPDATE: Officials said the definition of a confirmed COVID-19 case has been revised to include those who are positive in a PCR home test confirmed by a doctor The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that it would probably list monkeypox as a category 2 notifiable communicable disease today or tomorrow. The WHO is to convene an emergency committee meeting today in accordance with the International Health Regulations to discuss whether the spread of monkeypox to 39 countries, including 32 non-endemic countries, constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. On Tuesday, the Singaporean Ministry of Health confirmed its first imported case of monkeypox, which is also the first case reported in Southeast Asia. South Korea yesterday reported its first confirmed case of monkeypox — a South Korean national who
RSS