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Legal battle with
Wang to continue, KMT says
TOO LATE: Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng
missed the deadline to appeal to the KMT to retain his party membership, so it
will be resolved through legal means
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng
leaves the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday after an opposition motion of no
confidence in Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s Cabinet was voted down.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
While expressing regret over Legislative
Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) decision not to lodge an appeal with the Chinese
Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Integrity Committee to retain his party membership,
the party yesterday said its legal battle against Wang over his membership will
continue.
Wang’s party membership was revoked by the KMT last month over his alleged
improper lobbying for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker
Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a legal matter. While the party later softened its stance
and urged him to appeal within its structures to retain his membership, he did
not file an appeal by the deadline on Monday.
The KMT’s Culture and Communication Committee director Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基)
said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is also KMT chairman, and party
heavyweights have called for Wang to resolve the issue by appealing to the
party, and the KMT will respect his decision.
“Because the deadline for the party’s appeal procedures has passed, we will wait
for the result of the lawsuit and resolve the issue through legal means,” he
said.
The legal battle between Wang and the KMT began when Wang filed a provisional
injunction with the Taipei District Court against the party’s decision to revoke
his membership and therefore invalidate his legislator status. The court ruled
that Wang would be able to retain his membership and rights as a KMT member
after submitting a guarantee of NT$9.38 million (US$315,000), to the KMT.
Ma has urged Wang to contest the party’s decision through internal channels amid
the legal battle. Former KMT chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄)
also tried to persuade Wang to resolve the political strife by appealing to the
party and promoting unity ahead of its party congress.
Wang said that although he knew the party was sincere in its efforts to reach
out to him, he has not changed his mind about how he would resolve the issue.
The KMT is to invite all party delegates to attend the party congress, which is
scheduled to be held next month in Greater Taichung.
Wang, a KMT legislator and delegate, will be on the invitation list, Fan Chiang
said, dismissing previous suggestions that the party would exclude Wang from the
event.
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