An official of the planned Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NSU), a new political party initiated by independent legislators, said yesterday the party will be formally inaugurated next Tuesday as scheduled.
NSU Secretary General Chen Chieh-ju (陳傑儒) made the remarks after a review committee of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) raised questions about using the term "non-partisan" in the name of the new party.
Chen said that the party has been in the planning for some time, adding that if the MOI has any opinions about the NSU, the party is willing to communicate with the ministry.
The party will apply to and register with the MOI as scheduled, adding that "there is no plan to change the name," he said.
He said that the party has drafted a charter and is scheduled to form a 21-member central standing committee, with current legislators serving as the natural central standing committee members.
As to when Chang Po-ya (張博雅), chairwoman of the new party's preparatory committee, will become the party's chairwoman, he said that the party will not rule out the possibility of calling for an extraordinary central standing committee meeting to nominate her for the post.
Chang, a health minister during the latter part of the era of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, mentioned earlier that the establishment of the NSU will effectively offer a middle-way choice for the people of Taiwan, who she said have long been divided into two camps.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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