The Ministry of the Interior accepted yesterday the registration of the Taiwanese Communist Party as the nation’s 141st political party following the revocation in June of a legal clause that had banned civic organizations advocating communism.
“The reason why the party had been denied registration no longer exists,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry had previously turned down requests by the group to register as a political party on several occasions, in accordance with Article 2 of the Civil Organizations Act (人民團體法), which stipulates that “the organization or activities of civic groups cannot advocate communism or territorial separatism.”
On June 20, however, the Council of Grand Justices ruled that the article was in violation of the people’s freedom of assembly and freedom of speech enshrined in the Constitution and should be revoked with immediate effect.
On concerns that the Taiwan Communist Party could engage in activities endangering the Republic of China’s existence or disrupting the country’s democracy, the ministry said that in such a situation, the party could be ordered to disband if it were determined by the grand justices to have violated the Constitution.
The party was officially formed on April 5, 1928 and became a full-fledged party answerable to the Comintern in 1931.
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