New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) was re-elected as party executive chairman yesterday, following repeated delays and rumors of internal party tension.
“Today we held a chairmen’s meeting and, based on our decision, I will continue to serve as the party’s executive chairman,” Huang said in a news conference following the meeting, adding that the decision was unanimous.
His re-election follows a reshuffling of the party’s board of chairmen about two weeks ago, in keeping with party charter provisions mandating new leadership elections after every national election.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Huang said that important decisions would be made by a larger decisionmaking committee composed of the seven party chairmen, along with the conveners of eight different internal policy and work committees.
When asked if there had been conflict over the party’s direction, Huang said: “Everything about the party’s operation is conducted in accordance with the party charter.”
He said that mandating a separation between the party’s internal leadership and national legislators would require the decisionmaking committee to revisit the party’s charter, adding that each of the party’s national legislators would take responsibility for local leadership in their assigned districts.
Neil Peng (馮光遠), former NPP legislative candidate who was also elected to the board of chairmen, called for the executive chairmanship position to be awarded to someone other than the party’s legislators to preserve the party machinery’s independence from legislators.
He said he accepted the result of yesterday’s meeting, which had been delayed by his demand that every member of the board be present before an official meeting could be held.
When asked about his party’s plans to remain relevant and avoid the fates of other small parties such as the New Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union, Huang said his strategy would focus on continuing to produce high-quality legislation while cultivating young people to participate in the 2018 local elections.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS