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
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