Former Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislators Liao Pen-yen (
"They said that we were not following the TSU's spirit and policies, so we needed to go. What kind of reason is that?" Liao said at a press conference at the legislature yesterday morning.
The TSU's Central Executive Committee decided on Monday to expel the pair.
PHOTO: CNA
"They never talked to us and they never told us what we had done wrong or which party rule we broke. It is not fair to kick us out just like that," Liao said.
"They said that I did not follow the TSU's spirit and policies? Excuse me, but I am one of the five founders of the TSU. I have been the acting chairman for more than two months. Who knows the party's spirit and policies better than I?" Huang said.
TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (
"I am sorry to see them go. I wish the party headquarters would give them a chance to appeal," Lo said. "But if not, I hope they find a new team soon."
TSU Legislator Lin Jih-jia (
"They have not participated in any caucus meetings or discussions since September. I think that is the main reason why other people would believe that they do not care about the TSU anymore," Lin said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) downplayed the TSU move, saying that it respected its ally's system.
DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) told a press conference at party headquarters that he was not in a position to comment because he did not know whether the dismissal had anything to do with his party.
"We respect their democratic system and autonomy," he said.
DPP Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that he was "surprised" by the TSU's decision but that it was "impolite" for the DPP to comment on the matter now because the two legislators can still appeal the move.
The pair can appeal to the TSU's Arbitration Committee within 10 days of receiving written notice of the expulsion.
When asked whether the DPP would ask the pair to join the party, Cho said that it had not asked them to join.
The parties have agreed that the DPP will not nominate candidates in the constituencies where the two TSU legislators will stand in January's legislative elections and that the DPP will work to help them win.
Cho said the pair's expulsion would not affect the inter-party negotiations about nominations in other constituencies.
There are many ways for the two parties to cooperate, Cho said, and opinions polls will be the last resort.
DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓), director of the party's Culture and Information Department, said that she was "astonished" at the news.
It is up to the TSU whether they want to nominate people to replace Liao and Huang, she said, but this was not a good time to say whether the DPP would try to recruit them.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
RSS