The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it is mulling disciplinary measures against former Kaohsiung County commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) after he accused KMT presidential nominee and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of being “incompetent and untrustworthy.”
Yang, who had supported Han during his mayoral bid last year, is the second KMT member facing possible loss of party membership for criticizing Han.
On Monday, the KMT New Taipei City chapter passed a decision to revoke the membership of KMT Central Advisory Committee member Chen Hung-chang (陳宏昌) for saying that Han spent most of his time playing mahjong, drinking and womanizing.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
The decision is to be reviewed by the KMT Central Disciplinary Committee and Central Standing Committee today for final confirmation.
Yang on Monday also accused Han of frequenting nightclubs, drinking excessively and having extramarital affairs.
Han had admitted to having a pleasure-seeking lifestyle two decades ago and said that he has changed, but some of those behaviors have continued, Yang said on Facebook.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has said that politicians should be wise, competent, trustworthy and kind, but Yang said Han has none of those qualities.
For example, “Han said he does not care about money, but he has not fulfilled his promise during the Nov. 11 [last year] rally in Fongshan District (鳳山) about donating all of his election subsidies to charity,” he said.
Han also owns “luxury mansions” and has many political connections through his wife’s family, Yang said.
Despite having aligned himself with “commoners,” Han should be considered part of the establishment, he added.
It would be better for Han, the KMT and the nation if he focuses on keeping his position as mayor, Yang said.
Asked for comments, Han said he does understand why Yang made the false accusations.
“Since taking office as mayor, I have not gotten drunk and I do not even know what a nightclub looks like,” he told reporters.
He has donated to charity many times, but he never felt the need to advertise it, he said, adding: “I do not want to show all my donation receipts, because that is not the point.”
The KMT should not tolerate slander against its presidential nominee in the period leading up to the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11 next year, KMT Central Standing Committee member Yao Chiang-ling (姚江臨) said.
“Yang’s party membership should absolutely be revoked, as with the case of Chen,” he said, adding that he has urged KMT headquarters to revoke Yang’s membership.
The KMT Kaohsiung chapter would gather information related to Yang’s remarks to see if they caused harm to the party or Han, and determine whether to mete out disciplinary measures, chapter head Chuang Chi-wang (莊啟旺) said.
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng and CNA
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS