The Taiwan Action Party Alliance (TAPA) yesterday announced that it has begun the dissolution process.
The decision followed the announcement on Jan. 12 by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the party’s spiritual head, that he was withdrawing from politics.
TAPA failed to win any seats in Jan. 11’s legislative elections. It received 143,617 votes, or 1.01 percent of the party vote.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu,Taipei Times
Under election regulations, only parties that garner at least 3 percent of the party vote are entitled to government funding; and only those that receive 5 percent of the vote can obtain legislator-at-large seats.
TAPA said in a statement on Facebook that its members on Sunday reached a decision to dissolve the party, as outlined by its own rules.
From yesterday, the party ceased accepting membership fees and donations, it said.
To finalize dissolution, a task force has been formed to handle its accounting and registrations, as well as other work, the party said.
“We would like to pay our highest respect to our supporters, as well as express our most sincere gratitude and apologies to them,” it said.
Party members would continue to work for Taiwan with the same spirit, it added.
TAPA was founded in August last year and has advocated Chen’s stance of “one country on each side” of the Taiwan Strait.
The party nominated Chen as one of its legislator-at-large candidates, but the Central Election Commission disqualified his listing, citing the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), which prohibits people who have been convicted of corruption from registering as a candidate.
Chen was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a series of corruption charges and is on medical parole.
“As the ‘gardener’ of TAPA, I feel deeply ashamed to have allowed this little tree to wither,” Chen said on Jan. 12.
After spending a night engaged in deep reflection, he decided that he could no longer contribute to the party or Taiwan, he said.
“From this day on, I would withdraw from politics. Thank you and good bye,” he said.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
RSS