The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has announced it has resumed its legal battle against Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a KMT source said yesterday, and has appealed against a Taipei District Court ruling that allowed Wang to retain his party membership.
After taking advice from lawyers, as well as considering the long-term future of party policy, the KMT has been left with no alternative but to appeal, the source said, adding that the decision was made out of consideration for party rules and discipline.
The source said the KMT questions the rationale behind the Taipei District Court ruling on March 19, which said that for an individual to be stripped of their party membership, a conference of national delegates must be held in which at least half of the total number of delegates must be in attendance and more than two-thirds of these must agree on the action.
The KMT is a political party and cannot be viewed as an ordinary civic organization, the party source said, adding that the court ruling would mean previous individuals with revoked memberships would be able to claim that the party’s disciplinary committee’s decisions were invalid.
The source said this could have dramatic repercussions.
The source cited concern for the year-end “seven-in-one” local elections if individuals not nominated by the KMT decide to contest the effectiveness of party discipline and run in the elections.
The KMT has another five days to lodge its appeal in the Wang case.
The court — in deciding in Wang’s favor — had rejected the party disciplinary committee’s authority after the KMT stripped Wang of his party membership in September last year for allegedly using his influence to sway decisions in a legal case.
At the time, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that Wang had brought “shame on Taiwan’s judiciary and democratic history,” while also trying to remove him from the post of legislative speaker.
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