The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would communicate with its grassroots members following pushback over a directive from President William Lai (賴清德) to refrain from hiring relatives or partners as assistants.
The president’s directive highlights that the DPP is a law-abiding and honest party, but the policy would have a grace period before implementation, DPP spokeswoman Han Ying (韓瑩) said, adding that the policy would have to be ratified by the party’s Central Executive Council.
Lai on Wednesday called for stricter standards among party members, saying that assistants for the people’s representatives should observe Article 26 of the Civil Servants’ Appointment Act (公務人員任用法) and should not hire spouses or third-degree relatives within the same organization, or appoint them to positions of authority, according to a source at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The party would continue efforts to reach out to party members opposing the issue and would unveil how the directive would be implemented in detail at a later date, Han said.
The directive is not aimed at any individual, but rather at the issue of rampant abuse of assistants’ funds by representatives across all parties, Han said.
DPP Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) has been accused of embezzling up to NT$23 million (US$700,792) in assistants’ fees since 2001.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) has been accused of embezzling NT$1.08 million of funds intended for hiring assistants.
DPP New Taipei City Councilor Lin Ping-yu (林秉宥) yesterday on Facebook said that he opposed the directive, stating that the percentage of people hiring third-degree relatives as assistants was in the minority and the party should not enforce a party-wide ban on the issue.
It is illogical, does not conform to the principle of proportionality and could even be a logical fallacy, he said, adding that writing such instructions into the party chapter was trying to make the lives of DPP members more difficult.
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