Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Luo Wen-chia's (
A member of the party's Central Standing Committee, Huang Ching-lin (
Huang told the press before the meeting that Luo, who used to be considered Chen's protege, was not qualified to comment on the president or the DPP because "he hasn't helped out with party affairs or governmental affairs since he lost the Taipei County commissioner race last year.
Luo has been attending a short-term study program at Harvard University since he lost the Taipei County commissioner election in December last year.
Luo said during a question-and-answer session after a speech he delivered at Boston University on Monday that Chen might not have intended to embezzle from his "state affairs fund" but made the mistake of lying to cover inconsistencies in the case.
"Those who should leave should go. Those who bring disgrace on the group should not stay in the party," Huang said.
Huang's proposal, however, was only discussed in the committee meeting yesterday and DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
Vice President Annette Lu (
She did not elaborate.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (
Former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Luo yesterday expressed disappointment over his colleagues' criticism, and rebuked the president for telling lies to cover up mistakes he made.
"I am not surprised but rather disappointed by the fact that party members have such different opinions about me," Luo said in a message posted on his personal blog.
"Has our society become so crazy that there is no room for reasonable discussion?" he asked.
Luo said he would like to tell his critics that they would have said something different had they been there to listen to his entire speech.
"It's a pity that you were not there," he said.
Luo yesterday said he initially hesitated in accepting the speech invitation and understood that he could not avoid criticism in commenting on such a sensitive issue after a nine-month absence from the public eye.
Sharing views
He said the reason he eventually accepted the invitation was that he did not want to forgo an opportunity to dialogue with young people and that he wanted to share his feelings and observations of Taiwan and the DPP with friends and interested academics and policymakers in the US.
Luo said he was thinking of coming back to vote before in next month's elections and hoped his return would help change the domestic political status quo.
He denied that the move had anything to do with setting the stage for next year's legislative election.
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