New Power Party (NPP) legislators-elect yesterday met with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), while denying that any discussion was held on a possible merger with the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
NPP Chairman and legislator-elect Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the legislators-elect had sought a meeting to thank Lee for his help and encouragement during the campaign, as well as to ask about his health following a minor stroke last month.
Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) accompanied the the four legislators-elect to the meeting. Missing was legislator-elect Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), who is overseas.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Huang said that Lee had expressed hope that the NPP could lead the way in forging a new political path, playing a key role in the nation’s second wave of democratic reforms.
Lee had urged the party, which has focused on legislative reform, to pay greater attention to judicial and educational reforms, he said.
“Former president Lee was happy that we were able to take an important step forward this election, but he cares more about whether we will play a crucial role in the new legislature, as well as hoping that we will be able to develop and enlarge our organization to keep bringing in more young people,” Huang said.
He denied that there had been any discussion of the TSU, whose future remains unclear after losing all of its at-large seats in this month’s elections.
Lee is considered to be the TSU’s “spiritual leader.”
The TSU was established in July 2001 after a call from Lee to create a party that would “secure democracy and strengthen Taiwan” and to give pro-localization voters another political choice besides the Democratic Progressive Party.
Author Neil Peng (馮光遠), who accompanied the NPP’s legislators, said that he felt the NPP should seek to integrate other “third force” parties, but declined to state whether the TSU should be included, adding that the NPP has yet to hold internal discussions.
NPP legislator-elect Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that Lee had offered to provide the party with policy analysis assistance through his school, as well as helping arrange a political party diplomacy trip to Japan in the summer.
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