Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers have decided to push for an amendment to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) to regulate pro-unification groups that allegedly incite violence, instead of tackling the issue through the draft political party act (政黨法).
DPP lawmakers on the legislature’s Internal Administrative Committee made the decision at a policy session with their caucus colleagues on Friday, DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said.
Amending an existing law was seen as a quicker and more efficient way to deal with members of the China Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) than tailoring the proposed political party act, Lai said.
DPP lawmakers said the point of the political party act is to guarantee fair competition between the parties and that suppressing gang-related violence is better left to other laws, Lai said.
There are multiple versions of the draft political party act for the DPP to consider without introducing concerns about the CUPP, he said.
The Organized Crime Prevention Act defines criminal organizations as those that are “structured, permanent and profit-seeking” in their pursuit of criminal enterprises, Lai said.
The “profit-seeking” requirement makes it difficult to apply the law to political parties that have been co-opted by Beijing and are engaged in criminal activities in furtherance of a political agenda, Lai said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) has submitted a proposal to amend the law by eliminating the phrase “profit-seeking,” which would make it easier to apply the law to actions by the CUPP or its members, Lai said.
Although the Constitution permits the Council of Grand Justices to disband a political party, doing so would endanger the existence or the Republic of China’s democratic constitutional order, Lai said.
It would also be more time consuming, he said.
As to whether to include an article or clause in the political party act to exclude individuals with gang-related criminal records from heading a political party, Lai said that issue to be resolved through cross-party negotiations.
However, such measures may prove inadequate because people like CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂), a former Bamboo Union gang leader known by his nickname “White Wolf,” might simply to stand for him in the group, Lai said.
“To prevent gangs from creating shell political parties, we are prioritizing the amendment of the Organized Crime Prevention Act and increasing the severity of its penalties. Any political party that wants to break the law and behave like a gang should have to pay a steep price,” Lai said.
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