People First Party (PFP) legislator-at-large and former legislative speaker Liu Sung-fan (
Liu sent a letter to the PFP caucus yesterday to say that he had officially informed Soong of his decision to withdraw his party membership. He said that he was worried his case would affect the party's campaign for the legislative elections, so he decided to withdraw from the PFP.
FILE PHOTO: LIBERTY TIMES
Liu was on Tuesday sentenced by the Taiwan High Court's Taichung Branch to four years in jail for corruption. The court said that Liu, as the chairman of the board at the Taichung Business Bank, received NT$150 million in kickbacks from Tseng Cheng-jen (曾正仁), president of the Kuangsan Enterprise Group.
Liu's office yesterday said that he was still in New York, but would return to Taiwan. The office declined to give a specific date for his return.
PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
The PFP caucus also announced that Liu's seat would be filled by Namchow Group chairman Alfred Chen (陳飛龍) as Chen was the next candidate on the PFP's legislator-at-large list. The caucus denied that the party would skip Chen and send Soong, the candidate next on the list after Chen, into the legislature.
The replacement issue settled down as Chen and Soong met yesterday at noon and Chen's willingness to fill the seat was confirmed.
"I am happy and have no regret about going to the Legislative Yuan, to represent and speak for the business circle in the legislature," Chen said in a telephone interview yesterday afternoon.
Chen is scheduled to visit PFP headquarters and the caucus today to exchange opinions about his duties in this session.
"The party is sending Chen to the legislature because the order of legislators-at-large on the list was already determined three years ago, and we will abide by the law to fill the seat according to this order of succession," Liu Wen-hsiung said.
"This is also about integrity and honesty -- we promised a place on the list to Chen three years ago, and we are keeping our promise," he said.
Meanwhile, Liu Wen-hsiung said that all necessary paperwork would be finished on time to allow Chen to take the oath before Tuesday, so he could take part in the showdown about the reconsideration request for the controversial statute authorizing the formation of an investigative committee probing the March 19 shooting incident.
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
While it is common to see bumper stickers informing other drivers about important information, such as “baby on board” or “rookie driver,” some motorist in Taiwan are using creative statements to warn other drivers to keep a safe distance to avoid a collision. A photograph recently circulating on the Internet showed a van in Changhua City with a bumper sticker saying that the driver received their license after taking the test three times, so it is dangerous to drive close to the vehicle. The person who took the photograph said all vehicles behind the van appeared to “subconsciously” maintaining a safe distance. Some
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight