A flag representing a newly formed political party has been cleared by the Ministry of the Interior, but its similarity to the flags used by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Party has raised eyebrows.
According to a report yesterday by the Chinese-language United Daily News, the Republic Party (Minkuotang, 民國黨 or MKT) flag consists of the Republic of China’s national emblem on a golden-yellow background, a design that employs a symbol used by the KMT and the colors used by the New Party.
Members of the KMT and the New Party said the design is a cause for concern, as voters might confuse the MKT flag for that of the KMT or the New Party, the report said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, the Chinese and English names of the MKT closely resemble those of the KMT, while there is also only a one-character difference between the MKT’s Chinese name and the Democratic Progressive Party’s (民進黨), causing some legislators to ask if the MKT aims to trick voters in next year’s legislative elections, the report said.
“Parties should assume that their supporters have the basic intelligence to discern [different party emblems],” MKT spokesman Hsu Shih-hsun (徐世勳) was quoted as saying.
The MKT’s flag is based on the party’s political beliefs and was not designed to cause confusion, Hsu was quoted as saying.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that the MKT seemed to be “exploiting loopholes” in formulating its name and its flag, which “the Ministry of the Interior should have made stringent checks on,” the report quoted Lo as saying.
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