The KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee yesterday expelled seven party members because they were seeking office under the banners of rival parties in the Dec. 1 legislative elections.
The memberships of four others were revoked for campaigning in local government races without a party nomination or campaigning for the candidates of rival parties.
The move is another mass disciplinary action on the part of the KMT, following the August expulsion of 11 members who defected to the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
The committee's chairman, Chen Kang-chin (陳庚金), explained that his committee decided to expel the seven because running for office under the banner of rival parties is considered a more serious offense than running without the party's nomination.
Although both "expulsion" and "revocation of membership" mean ouster from the party, an expulsion is a more sever punishment, according to KMT rules.
Those who have their membership revoked can have it restored one year later. Members who are expelled are not allowed to rejoin until two years after their ouster.
Of the seven expelled, four are representing the People First Party in the December poll.
They are Lu Chun-hung (呂鈞鴻), who is running in Taipei County, and three others who won the PFP's nomination for legislator-at-large: Lin Huei-kwung (林惠官), president of the Chinese Federation of Labor (中華民國全國總工會), Ku Chung-lien (顧崇廉), former commander-in-chief of the ROC Navy, and Alfred Chen (陳飛龍), the chairman of Namchow Chemical (南僑化工).
The other three are representing the Taiwan Solidarity Union. The first is Eric Wu (吳東昇), chairman of the Taiwan Securities Co (台證綜合證券公司) and a former KMT legislator, who is on the TSU's slate of legislator-at-large candidates. The second is Taoyuan County Council speaker Huang Chin-teh (黃金德), who has registered to run for the legislature in Taoyuan County. The third is Lin Wen-sheng (林文生) who is chief of the Taichung County's Hoping Township and who is running for an Aboriginal seat.
Fengshan Mayor Huang Pa-yeh (黃八野), who insists on running for Kaohsiung County commissioner despite defeat in opinion polls to party nominee Wu Kuang-hsun (吳光訓), had his membership revoked. In the same boat is Chiayi County Government adviser Chen Sheng-san (陳勝三), who is running for Chiayi County commissioner after the party nominated Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) for the post.
The membership of legislator Tseng Chen-nung (曾振農) was revoked for campaigning for the DPP's candidate for Chiayi County commissioner, Chen Ming-wen (陳明文).
Yen Yao-hsing (顏耀星), deputy head of the KMT's Tainan County division, received the same punishment as Tseng for campaigning for the DPP's candidate for Tainan County commissioner, Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智).
Meanwhile, violations of discipline by legislator Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) and Kinmen County commissioner Chen Shui-tsai (陳水在) were not handled during yesterday's meeting because their local divisions have not recommended to the committee what punishment to give them, according to Chen Kang-chin.
Both politicians registered to run in the legislative elections on Thursday without the party's nomination.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
RSS