The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to hold its postponed party congress in Greater Taichung today, the highlights of which include a proposed revision to party regulations that, if passed, would allow President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to serve as party chairman until 2016 and a proposal to reinstate Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to the party.
The proposed revision of party regulations seeks to have a KMT national president automatically serve as party chairman in what party officials say is an attempt to enhance cooperation between the party and the government.
Wang’s party membership is also likely to be an issue of great importance at the event, as KMT Central Standing Committee member Lin Rong-te (林榮德) plans to present a proposal asking the party to reinstate Wang’s membership.
Photo: CNA
More than 100 party delegates have signed a petition to have the proposal put on the agenda of the discussion session, Lin said.
The proposal was drawn up after Wang indicated earlier this month that he expects to return to the KMT at the request of party delegates.
Wang’s membership was revoked on Sept. 11 over his alleged role in an improper lobbying case, although he was later granted a court injunction allowing him to retain his membership pending the result of a trial.
However, some sources say the KMT is seeking to dissuade Lin from presenting the proposal, as the party has no plans to reinstate Wang.
Some party delegates have said they intend to raise proposals asking Ma to defend judicial independence as a countermeasure against the proposed reinstatement of Wang’s membership.
As disputes over Wang’s membership and allegations of improper lobbying continue, the interaction between Ma and the speaker is likely to be a hot topic.
The congress, which was postponed in September because of planned mass protests against Ma, is to be held at the Taichung Stadium in Greater Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲).
Several groups, including workers who lost their jobs when factories closed down, groups concerned with urban renewal policies, labor groups and student activists, have said they will stage protests outside the congress venue.
As the congress organizer, the KMT can ask police to disperse protesters.
However, Chingshuei Police Station Chief Liu Hsi-ming (劉錫明) said that if the organizer has no objections, officers will not intercede.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique