Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will apply to return to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and could see his application approved at the party congress on Saturday.
Chen, who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, has authorized DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to submit an application for DPP membership, almost five years after his withdrawal from the party in August 2008 amid escalating controversy surrounding his corruption probe, the DPP confirmed yesterday.
The application, once submitted, would have to go through a standard process, which begins with a local party office’s preliminary review before a final review of a special panel of the party headquarters, DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) told reporters in a briefing after a Central Standing Committee weekly meeting.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“DPP regulations only bar gangsters from joining the party, which is commonly known as the anti-mafia clause. [The application] is not a big deal, as we do not try to filter the good guys and the bad guys,” Lin said.
Lin added that a proposal to reinstate the former president’s membership, which was endorsed by hundreds of DPP members and was scheduled to be submitted on Saturday, is a “non-issue” because Chen had neither been suspended nor expelled from the party.
That was why Chen would not be subject to an automatic five-year ban for suspended or expelled members and could submit an application anytime, he added.
Chen’s possible return has been a hot topic in the DPP for some time, with some voicing strong opposition to the issue due to the negative impact and controversy it might cause.
The former president’s return could also mean that his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), who also withdrew from the party in 2010, could follow the same path.
Chen Shui-bian’s possible re-instatement will not be the only challenge for the DPP and party Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Saturday.
The party congress, which is scheduled to be held at the Taipei International Convention Center, is expected to discuss whether members who have belonged to the party for less than two year should be barred from voting in party elections to avoid interference in intraparty politics by taking advantage of nominal member breeding, a perennial headache for the party, Lin said.
The other major issue, which could be crucial for the party’s nomination process and chances in the seven-in-one elections next year, is the party primary format, Lin said. DPP party representatives would have to decide whether primarys would solely be decided by public opinion polls or whther the old system would be brought back, which combines the results of member voting and public opinion polls.
Meanwhile, DPP lawmaker Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), appointed by Su as head of an investigation panel to probe the recent controversy surrounding member recruitment involving mass applications and reputed gangsters, released the panel’s findings yesterday.
Investigations found no evidence linking Ker Chien-ming and Lin Yao-wen (林耀文), director of former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) office, with applications from gangsters after the pair was accused of mobilizing gang members to join the DPP.
The panel did find several unusual member recruitment activities in various local party chapters, which it said former independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) was probably behind. Lo is a fugitive gang member who is now believed to be living in China.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan