The New Power Party (NPP) plans to hold a forum with pro-localization Hong Kong lawmakers this weekend to expand its international reach, and it has proposed an agenda for an extraordinary legislative session and outlined an ambitious goal for legislative elections in 2020.
Hong Kong lawmakers Edward Yiu (姚松炎), Nathan Law (羅冠聰) and Eddie Chu (朱凱?), as well as democracy advocate Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), are to participate at the forum on Saturday and Sunday as part of the NPP’s efforts to connect with politicians in other nations, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday.
The event, which China’s Taiwan Affairs Office described as an attempt to merge Taiwan’s and Hong Kong’s independence movements, is to feature interactions between NPP legislators and their Hong Kong counterparts on topics ranging from lawmaking experiences to political campaigning.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The forum is also to discuss challenges facing both Taiwan and Hong Kong, such as how to deepen democracy and reduce economic inequity, Huang said, adding that the NPP plans to hold a fundraising lunch on Jan. 13 to mark the party’s second anniversary.
China’s reaction was clearly “a tyrannical party’s fear of democracy and freedom,” Huang said, urging Beijing not to overreact to normal interactions between like-minded political parties.
The NPP has held talks with political parties in Canada, Malaysia, Vietnam and Denmark since last year, and there is no reason for it to refrain from interacting with Hong Kong politicians, NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
Meanwhile, NPP caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) called for a rational discussion during the extraordinary legislative session, which was yesterday proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus to review major bills and budget proposals.
While the Executive Yuan has listed the general budget and amendments to the Electricity Act (電業法) and the Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法) as major items to be handled in the extraordinary session, the NPP said the agenda should also include amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and a draft act on transitional justice, as well as its proposals to cut the maintenance budget of the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮); cancel the holiday and year-end bonuses of retired civil servants, public-school teachers and military personnel; and recover pensions from people who combined years worked as civil servants with years worked for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The proposals are part of the party’s push for transitional justice and to scrap unfair pension systems, Hsu said.
Following a threat by the KMT to raise 4,000 draft bills during the extraordinary session, he urged the KMT to not paralyze the proceedings, which would only hurt its reputation among voters.
The NPP, which holds five seats in the legislature, plans to gain an additional five seats in the 2020 legislative elections by taking over KMT-dominated constituencies, instead of competing with the DPP, Hsu said.
“Judging from the NPP’s approval rating, the goal is attainable if [the party] can maintain a 10 percent to 15 percent approval rating [until 2020],” he said.
The NPP obtained 7 percent of legislator-at-large votes in the legislative elections in January last year, and it expects to win more votes with its performance, Hsu said.
The more pressing issue for the party is the mayoral and councilor elections next year, Huang said, adding that it has been setting up local chapters and looking for suitable candidates.
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