The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has warned its members to observe the party’s disciplinary measures and rules, saying that it would revoke the membership of those who seek to run in the November elections without the party’s nomination.
Article 15 of the party’s disciplinary regulations disallows publicly voicing support for non-DPP candidates; openly criticizing DPP candidates; assuming a position or being listed as a member of the campaign staff of a non-DPP candidate; and performing actions and making remarks that adversely affect the image of the party or its candidates.
The party’s comments came after Chiayi County Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wu (吳芳銘) last week announced that the would leave the DPP and announce his own bid for the county commissioner election.
Any action that contravenes Article 15 would be handled accordingly, the DPP said.
Earlier this month, Taipei Department of Civil Affairs Commissioner Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰) announced that he would support the re-election bid of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), an independent, in spite of the party’s decision to nominate DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) as its candidate for the Taipei election.
An anonymous source in the DPP said that since Ko and the DPP parted ways, the mayor has attempted to create the image that the party was overtly domineering and repressing him.
DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said that party members working for the Taipei City Government are “serving the public interest of Taipei residents, and are not considered to be contravening party disciplinary regulations.”
Before Hung’s remarks, the DPP had said it would respect Lan’s decision, but had not made clear whether his actions would be considered a contravention of party policy for a united nationwide electoral campaign.
Asked whether the lack of disciplinary action against Lan would weaken Yao’s call for unity among the pan-green camp in the Taipei mayoral election, DPP headquarters director Chen Cheng-te (陳正德) said it would not.
Based on the turnout for Yao’s campaign rally on Saturday last week, pan-green camp supporters are “very happy” that the DPP has nominated its own candidate, Chen said, adding that the event would harden the determination of DPP supporters.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan