New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Tuesday said that he would support his legislative office director, Lai Chia-lun (賴嘉倫), if he decides to run for legislator, following speculation that Lai could replace him as the party’s candidate in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止).
“Lai is the best in my office, perhaps better than most incumbent legislators in terms of his ability to draft bills, conduct interpellations and fight corruption,” Huang said on his Facebook fan group page.
If Lai decides to run, “I would of course support him,” Huang wrote.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
As for his personal plans, Huang said he has promised voters to be a legislator for four years and he takes his responsibility seriously.
Asked about the rumors that he would run for office, Lai yesterday said that he would formally respond at a news conference on Tuesday next week.
Records on the Control Yuan Web site show that Lai on Monday applied to set up an account at the Bank of Taiwan’s Sijhih branch to receive political donations as a legislative candidate. The application has already been approved.
NPP member Chen Yu-fan (陳雨凡), who is running for the Xinyi-Songshan legislative seat, said on Facebook on Tuesday night that Huang was causing confusion in the party by not announcing his plans sooner.
With the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections just 150 days away, the NPP has yet to decide whether to support President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election bid and collaborate with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to pool votes in the legislative elections, Chen said.
“This is because members respect Huang too much, to the point that they keep waiting for him to decide whether to run for re-election in Sijhih,” she said. “Huang should accept responsibility for the way things have turned out.”
By delaying decisions on key issues, party members have undermined the NPP’s democratic procedures, she said.
If the party’s decisionmaking committee would rather run the risk of helping the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) win seats in the legislature than collaborate with the DPP, it should make its stance known, she said.
In that case, “I would make a decision about whether to leave the party,” she added.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have