The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been trying to obtain the People First Party’s (PFP) support to jointly file a request in the legislature for a constitutional interpretation on the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) passed on Monday, KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said yesterday.
As it requires at least one-third, or 38, of all 113 legislators to file a request for a constitutional interpretation and the KMT caucus has only 35 seats, the KMT would need to form an alliance with lawmakers from other parties to reach the threshold.
In a radio interview, Chan said the KMT has been in communication with the PFP via various channels, with some saying that there is “room for consideration,” but adding that it is “not yet the last moment.”
When asked whether the KMT was directly in touch with PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), Chan said that he could not offer a clear answer, as he did not have the details of how contact was established.
Chan said the KMT has also “indirectly” approached Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers.
Chan denied media speculation that he has a different stance from KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) on how the party’s assets should be handled.
“It is just that Hung, as chairwoman, has more to take into consideration,” he said, adding that he also considers the act to be unconstitutional and contravening existing laws, calling it bad for democracy.
Chan said the party would be restructured, receiving more help from volunteers and donating the rest of its assets after calculating and reserving a portion to cover the interests of retired party workers.
With the passage of the act and the establishment of an Executive Yuan committee to handle ill-gotten party assets, Chan said the KMT would recommend representatives to the committee if asked to do so by the government.
Chan said that he does not know and has never asked how many assets the KMT possesses.
“The point is whether they are hidden away,” he added.
To his knowledge, the KMT Administration and Management Committee has a “crystal-clear” record of the party’s assets, he said, adding that the Cabinet and the Control Yuan had conducted related investigations during the terms of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and that members of the public can also tip the government off about what they suspect to be “hidden” KMT assets.
In regards to the party’s readiness to donate assets, Chan said the KMT’s stance is that it would “rather go bankrupt than continue to be accused of possessing ill-gotten assets.”
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