As the KMT set ups a special reform committee after its unprecedented loss in the presidential elections, voices inside and outside the party appear anything but unified on how such reforms should proceed.
KMT provincial party chairman Chen Keng-chin (
With the downsizing of the provincial government, there is no need for the KMT's provincial-level organization, said Chen.
Instead, he said, the KMT should strengthen party organizations at the county and township level and bolster grassroots support for the party.
There have been a number of calls for reduction in the KMT's organizational structure, but they have gone unheeded, said Chen. If the elections for National Assembly delegates are cancelled, the KMT should be able to abolish the provincial party headquarters within months, he said.
If the assembly elections -- scheduled for May 20 -- are not cancelled, then the KMT will be hard pressed to liquidate the provincial party machinery in the face of pressures to field candidates for the elections, said Chen.
Speaking on a TV talk show yesterday, National Taiwan University political scientist Pao Tsung-ho (
Meaningful party reform must include democratic processes within the party and greater attention towards public opinion, said Pao.
The KMT should first take stock of its members, set a timetable for adopting democratic internal methods, and then hold elections for the party chairman and other party posts, stressed Pao.
Not so, countered KMT legislator Chen Shei-saint (
The KMT should first place its assets in a trust and then institute democratic methods within the party, said Chen.
But the KMT should stop short of a party purge.
"Those who should have left have already done so," said Chen.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
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‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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