Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰) yesterday said he had initiated a signature drive calling on the party to immediately withdraw its appeal of a court ruling on Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) party membership.
Lu said he hoped the long drawn out litigation would come to an end soon, which “would be favorable to the party’s unity and reform efforts.”
Lu said he already has the support of about 20 KMT legislators — about one-third of the party’s 63 members in the 113-seat legislature.
The lawsuit involving Wang’s KMT membership has caused a serious rift in the party, Lu said.
“Whatever the party’s reason for filing the appeal, outsiders will see it as internal party conflict,” he said. “This will add to the KMT’s troubles and will not help its efforts at reform and unity.”
He expressed the hope that New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who assumed leadership of the KMT earlier yesterday, would heed the call of the majority of party members and retract the appeal as soon as possible.
In September 2013, the KMT’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee revoked Wang’s membership amid allegations that he had used his influence to sway a legal case.
The incident was dubbed by the media as the “September strife” between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the KMT chairman at the time, and Wang.
The committee’s decision could have cost Wang his seat as a KMT legislator-at-large and his position as legislative speaker, which he has held since 1999, but he fought back by suing the KMT for stripping him of his membership.
Both the Taipei District Court and the Taiwan High Court ruled in favor of Wang, and the KMT filed an appeal with the Supreme Court late last year.
Lin Rong-te (林榮德), a member of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, yesterday said that many of the committee’s members support Lu’s view that the appeal should be withdrawn.
“This involves the future of the KMT, and everyone expects the matter to be brought to a close,” Lin said, adding that he would communicate with Chu over the next two days.
“Everyone knows that Wang is an asset in the legislature and we need him more than ever at this time,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, Wang said he would respect whatever decision Chu makes on the matter of the appeal.
“Let things take their natural course,” he said, adding that he had not been aware of Lu’s proposal.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS