Conflict within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) intensified yesterday as party members in Kaohsiung launched a petition demanding the party fire two party top officials for "intentionally" damaging Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng's (王金平) reputation.
Signed by local politicians and grassroots groups, including Kaohsiung County Council Speaker Hsu Fu-sen (許福森), vice speaker Lu Shu-mei (陸淑美) and a number of councilors in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Hsinchu, the petition accused KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Deputy Secretary-General Liao Feng-de (
They also said they would not campaign for the party's candidates in next year's elections if the party refused to fire the two.
PHOTO: CHEN WEI-JEN, TAIPEI TIMES
"Wu and Liao have created conflict in the party by slandering Speaker Wang and treating him as an enemy. They have destroyed party unity and should be replaced for the sake of the party's victory in [next year's] elections," the petition said.
Reports have circulated that Wu, Liao and KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
While Wang appears confident that the party would support his reelection bid, Liao said earlier this month that Wang should prove his achievements and follow party procedures in winning the party's nomination.
Wu Den-yih, on the other hand, allegedly pressured Wang, a distant relative of Prosecutor Hou Kuan-jen (
Dissatisfied with the friction within the party, pro-Wang members urged Wu Poh-hsiung in the statement to fire Wu Den-yih and Liao, saying they would refrain from joining campaign activities if the party failed to do so.
Wu Poh-hsiung dismissed the threat, insisting that party unity was the KMT's priority.
"We need to join forces and fight our opponents ... I will not listen to any mischief-makers now," he said yesterday after attending the Hakka festival at Taipei City Hall.
The party chairman said the petition was signed by only a handful of members and denied holding Wang back.
"The KMT will always support Speaker Wang ... All party members should attack our opponents only," he said.
KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) lauded Wu Den-yih and Liao's efforts in campaigning for party candidates, saying the party saw no reason to ask them to step down.
Wang declined to comment when approached by reporters yesterday.
KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (
KMT caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) was more optimistic. She said the relationship between Wu and Wang might not be as bad as the media had speculated because she had never heard Wang complain about Wu Den-yih.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner