Seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee members, including legislators Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) and Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), have announced their resignations from the committee to reform the party following its defeats in Saturday’s elections.
The party must thoroughly review its losses in the presidential and legislative elections and promote reforms, Johnny Chiang said on Facebook late on Monday.
Saying every single party member is responsible for the KMT’s defeats, he added that he would resign from the committee and urged its other members to follow suit.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“To regain the trust of the people, the KMT must undergo a complete transformation,” Johnny Chiang said.
After all committee members resign, the party should form a provisional decisionmaking committee consisting of KMT mayors, county councilors, council speakers and a number of legislators to lead the party as it reforms its policy stance and power structure, he said.
Younger lawmakers who are competent and receptive to the public’s needs, such as KMT legislators Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) and Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), should be promoted to the party’s upper management, he added.
Within several hours, six more committee members announced that they would join Johnny Chiang in resigning from the committee with the aim of reforming the party.
They were legislators Chiang Wan-an, Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Shen Chih-huei (沈智慧), legislator-elect Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Changhua County Council Speaker Hsien Tien-lin (謝典林) and Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭).
While KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had said that he would formally tender his resignation at a committee meeting today, Hsu said that the committee “does not need to and should not decide on Wu’s resignation.”
Asked outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday if he intends to run for chairman after Wu steps down, Johnny Chiang said that “the chairmanship election is not a priority at this stage.”
People are more concerned about whether the KMT can review its mistakes, act responsibly and understand the public’s wishes, he said.
Asked the same question, Chiang Wan-an said that irrespective of his position, he would do his best to promote reforms in the party.
He added that he resigned from the committee because its current decisionmaking model “can no longer quickly and effectively respond to changes in the public’s will.”
Separately, committee member Lee Chao-ping (李昭平) said that while he agrees that all committee members should resign, if they do so immediately, it could cause today’s meeting to be canceled.
Without the meeting, Wu might be allowed to remain in his post instead of taking responsibility for the electoral defeats, he said.
Meanwhile, the KMT said in a written statement that all committee members’ terms ended in October last year, but elections had been postponed due to Saturday’s polls.
As a result, their resignations are a nonissue, the party said.
Wu and all executive-level members involved in the elections would resign at today’s meeting, it said.
A chairperson by-election and committee elections would be held on March 7, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
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
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
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
RSS