In the latest development in the run-up to the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) July chairmanship election, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), a candidate for the party's chairmanship, yesterday said yesterday that a dispute over party members' voting rights should be put to a vote.
"A proposal has already been made to the [KMT's] Central Standing Committee that party members who have not paid their party dues be allowed to vote in the July chairmanship elections," Wang said yesterday at the legislature.
"If negotiations on the issue are not successful, then the only way to resolve the situation is by voting on the issue," he added.
Wang was responding to the recent party dispute between himself and chairmanship candidate and Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). The dispute relates to whether or not members of the KMT who have defaulted on membership fees should be allowed to vote in the chairmanship election. While Wang thinks they should be allowed, Ma and his supporters have been against it, as the move is seen favoring Wang's election chances.
Responding to Wang's suggestion yesterday, Ma said to reporters that he would not object to a vote on the issue.
However, more research must be done into the party member details before such a vote should be held, Ma said.
The KMT's organization and development committee is currently looking into the situation and will not be releasing a report on its findings until the end of April, Ma said. While it is estimated that the KMT has around 1,090,000 members, no one knows for sure what the actual number of members is and how many members have paid their party fees. An exact figure will be given when the report comes out, Ma said.
A decision on a vote should be made only after those figures are released, Ma added.
The KMT's chairmanship election will be held July 16.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS