New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) yesterday said that she would leave the party in the hope that her departure will end conflict within the party.
She would be the second lawmaker to leave the NPP over internal division following Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), who earlier this month announced that he would leave the party to support President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in her re-election bid.
“It was a difficult decision, but it was something I had to do, or the party would remain trapped in a standoff and be unable to move forward,” Hung said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
With her and Lim gone, the party’s path should become “very clear,” she said.
Echoing Lim, Hung said she would not join the DPP, but run as an independent in next year’s presidential an legislative elections.
Hung made the announcement at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei after the NPP’s decisionmaking committee met for nearly three hours to discuss its next steps following Chiu Hsien-chih’s (邱顯智) resignation as party chairman.
“I believe the key reason behind his resignation was that he was unable to resolve differences within the party over its strategies,” Hung said.
The committee decided to call on Chiu to remain as chairman, but refused to discuss ways to resolve underlying issues that possibly led to his resignation, she said.
Party members are divided over whether to collaborate with other pan-green camp parties to pool votes in the elections or whether to focus election resources on legislators-at-large or on constituency-based candidates, Hung said.
“My departure is perhaps good for the party, because it would be able to move in the direction it wants,” she added.
She apologized to NPP members for her decision and wished the party success.
“My generation has not given up. We simply moved on to a different place,” she said.
NPP spokesman Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) said the party has no comment on Hung’s departure, as it has no chairperson.
Party members are trying to reach Chiu to urge him to resume the chairmanship, he said.
The committee also decided to continue talks with the DPP and other parties on collaborating to promote bills, based on a decision Chiu had previously made, Chen said.
While there is no acting chairperson, party affairs are being handled by NPP Secretary-General Chen Meng-hsiu (陳孟秀), he added.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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
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
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS