The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has disinvited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) from its 19th national congress later this month, sources within the party said yesterday.
The congress will be held at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on Sept. 29, during which KMT members will tackle issues of party policy, as well as attend the swearing in of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as KMT chairman.
The sources said the party leadership had decided that Wang, who would have attended the congress as chairman of the party’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee, would not be present due to the recent controversy over his alleged undue lobbying.
Wang stands accused by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigations Division (SID) of attempting to take legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) by lobbying High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) to not appeal Ker’s not-guilty verdict in a breach of trust case.
The SID says that Wang allegedly enlisted the help of former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) to carry out the illegal lobbying.
The case led the KMT to revoke the legislative speaker’s membership, which in turn caused him to petition the Taiwan High Court to retain his privileges as a party member.
The court approved Wang’s appeal on Friday after stipulating that he pay NT$9.38 million (US$314,300) as a guarantee to the party, but it denied his request to obtain a restraining order to stop the Legislative Yuan from revoking his status as a legislator.
Wang dropped the latter petition on Saturday.
Although the court ruled that the legislative speaker would, for the moment, retain his party membership, the KMT’s Central Standing Committee’s still determined that Wang should not go to the congress, the sources said.
The Central Standing Committee’s view was that the court’s decision did not make Wang a party representative, nor did it mean that he would continue to be the chairman of the disciplinary committee, they added.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS