Following former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen’s (張碩文) announcement of his withdrawal from the party on Monday, two KMT legislators yesterday threatened to do the same, with one saying the cross-strait policy of presumptive KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) was the source of her misgivings.
Chang, who was also KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) spokesperson during the campaign last year, released a statement on Monday announcing his withdrawal from the party.
He had said a day earlier that a ruling party “obsessed with a power struggle” is no longer worth supporting.
Photo: Kuo An-chia, Taipei Times
“I decided to leave the party to carry out more efforts that many people expect me to accomplish,” Chang said in the statement, adding that a political party should serve the public, rather than be “a fetter restricting individuals.”
Chang said that he left the party because he “came from the people, and as the KMT is now walking in the opposite direction from the people, I of course have to go back to the people.”
He is said to have planned to run for a legislative seat on the People First Party’s ticket, challenging Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重).
Photo: Liao Shu-ling, Taipei Times
KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟), who failed to secure the party’s nomination to run in Taichung, said the KMT “has no regard for party members’ thoughts and deeds.”
After a high-level party member said that it is better to have the party lose members than to have members without a sense of identity, Chi said of course members should have a sense of party identity, but the party has to make itself worth identifying with.
“We do not need enemies when we have members aspiring for a smaller party,” Chi said.
When asked whether he would join the legislative race with another political party, Chi said it is too early to say, as the election is six months away.
However, he also underlined his resolution to run.
KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) said she would consider withdrawing “if the party cannot be an open party, as it said it would be.”
Already nominated by the KMT to run for a third term in Yunlin County, Chang Chia-chun said there is strong opposition at the local level against Hung’s “one China, same interpretation.”
“I myself consider [Hung’s cross-strait policy] an idea that has gone off the track of the KMT’s consensus,” she said.
Chi agreed that Hung’s proposal has had “obvious impacts,” as “same interpretation and respective interpretations are miles apart.”
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) agreed that Hung has to adjust her cross-strait proposal so it would not harm the party’s legislative election prospects in central and southern Taiwan.
“I cannot blame Chang Chia-chun; I cannot even blame the DPP for categorizing Hung as a ‘unificationist,’” Wu said. “There will be pressure for Hung to make adjustments — and it will not be coming from the DPP, but from the KMT itself.”
Wu added that it is not difficult for Hung to make adjustments to her proposal, as the discussion for setting up reciprocal offices between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has already been under way; the basic underlying logic of the measure is mutual recognition of one China, but employing different words for it, he said.
Hung simply has to revise the proposal “and make it consistent with the party’s” before July 19, the date of the party congress, Wu said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS