TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan People’s Party held the opening session of its third party congress on Sunday, which was presided over by acting party chair and Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌).
In addition to setting its political agenda, the party held elections to determine the membership of its central party committee and central review committee, reported CNA. The TPP is also preparing for a by-election to pick a new party chair on Feb. 15.
Huang stepped in as acting chair after the former TPP chair and founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) resigned on Jan. 1. Ko is currently detained by the Taipei District Court awaiting trial on bribery and corruption charges.
Huang expressed regret that Ko is being held at Taipei’s Tucheng District detention center. Huang and the TPP claim Ko’s arrest and detention amount to political persecution by the DPP.
During his remarks to party members, Huang said that the TPP remains committed to realizing Ko’s vision of establishing a viable third force on Taiwan’s political landscape. Huang said the TPP will continue to work toward democratic reform for the future of Taiwan, per CNA.
The election for party chair will see Huang running against former legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如). Tsai previously represented the TPP in the Legislative Yuan but resigned in 2022 because of a controversy over her master’s degree thesis.
On Sunday afternoon, the TPP’s central party committee revealed the results of committee elections. Now News reported that the next central party committee will consist of the following nine members: Lin Jiao-yin (林昭印), Hsu Cheng-hsien (許正憲), Chen Shih-hsuan (陳世軒), Chiang He-hsu (江和樹), Tsai Pi-ru, Li Yan-ching (李彥慶), Huang Tsong-ying (黃瀞瑩), Yeh Kuo-wen (葉國文), and Tsun Cheng-hua (孫正華).
The next seven-member central review committee of the TPP, as reported by New Talk, will include Lin Wei-ming (林韋銘), Chen You-cheng (陳宥丞), Chien Hsing-fu (簡幸甫), Jan Chiao-yin (詹喬茵), Li Wei-hua (李偉華), Wu Shih-lian (吳士廉), and Liao Chih-chieh (廖志杰).