Human rights lawyer Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) yesterday said he would not resume the post of New Power Party (NPP) chairman, after the party’s decisionmaking committee earlier in the day voted against Taipei City Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君), the only registered candidate.
NPP caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) or human rights lawyer Tseng Wei-kai (曾威凱) would be good choices and he hoped they would consider running, Chiu wrote on Facebook.
He also hoped the party would elect a new chairperson who would be better than he had been in handling party affairs, and for the party to move forward, the committee should complete the chairperson by-election as soon as possible, Chiu said.
Photo: CNA
As the only legislator on the decisionmaking committee, Hsu could help the party negotiate with the Democratic Progressive Party on how to collaborate in next year’s elections as well as in the legislature, he said.
Tseng is an experienced lawyer and was a founding member of the party, Chiu said.
“Regardless of who the new chairperson is, I will do my best to assist the party, as my goal to reform politics remains unchanged,” he said.
However, some of the committee members want Chiu back as chairman, NPP spokesman Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) said after the committee vote.
Lin also urged the NPP to elect a new chairperson as soon as possible, given the approach of the presidential and legislative elections.
“I really hope the committee will stop procrastinating about the chairperson by-election,” she told reporters outside party headquarters in Taipei.
“All the ups and downs in the party since August last year have left our members and supporters very worried,” she said.
The committee could not decide on how long it should try to convince Chiu to reassume the chairmanship and half of the members walked out halfway through the meeting, Lin added.
Later in the day, Tseng said his work as a lawyer prevented him from taking up the responsibility of party chairman.
Lin or Hsu would make an ideal chairperson, he wrote on Facebook.
In related news, NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said he has not yet agreed to Chiu’s invitation to be added to the party’s list of legislators-at-large in next year’s elections.
Chiu made the remarks after attending a New Taipei City news conference announcing that his legislative office director, Lai Chia-lun (賴嘉倫), would seek the party’s nomination to run as legislator in his constituency in Sijhih District (汐止).
Lai decided to run after local residents encouraged him to do so, Huang said, adding: “I support him.”
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS