The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday rejected a local news report saying that its staff have been using the party’s caucus office in the Legislative Yuan as their working space, while confirming that it has made progress in finding new party headquarters.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine reported that nearly 20 TPP party officials and staff have been “parasitizing” the party’s caucus office.
The magazine said it had received a tip-off that as the TPP’s workers are not employees of the Legislative Yuan, they do not have the work card required to enter the Legislative Yuan’s caucus office building, but the party provided a list of its staff to the building’s security and they were given permission to enter daily.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan People’s Party
The TPP staff who used the caucus office are from the party’s advertising department, and a video uploaded by the party on YouTube, in which an advertising department employee introduced the party’s secretary general, was filmed there, the magazine said.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the TPP chairman, has often stressed the importance of financial discipline, but allowing the party’s workers to use the caucus office — for which the electricity and phone bills are paid by the Legislative Yuan — seemed to be taking advantage of the government, the report said.
TPP spokesman Tsai Chun-wei (蔡峻維) said that all the people who are working at the office support the TPP legislative caucus by quickly replying to public opinions and assisting its operations.
The party rejects the claim that it is a parasite in the Legislative Yuan, as that is inconsistent with the facts, he said.
The TPP has been searching for a bigger space for its headquarters since last year, but many landlords have concerns over renting to political parties, Tsai said, adding that some progress has been made in finding a property, and the details would be announced if further progress is made.
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