News
DPP introduces rules on academic integrity
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Central Executive Committee has approved a series of rules on the academic integrity of party members registering for primaries ahead of the 2024 presidential and legislative elections.
The new regulations require all would-be candidates to sign a declaration stating they did not engage in academic misconduct in writing their thesis, and accepting strict punishment if they are later found to have lied.
The move comes as the DPP is working to improve its nomination process for fielding candidates in January 2024 elections.
Under the new mechanism, party members will sign a declaration stating they did not engage in plagiarism, falsification or ghost-writing when writing their thesis.
Party Chairman Lai Ching-te says although the D-P-P is not the only political party with members facing questions of violating academic integrity, it will be "the first to set an example by proposing a solution."
Lai is also calling on other political parties to adopt similar measures.
In other news from the ruling party, the DPP has suspended the membership of Tainan City Council Speaker Qiu Li-li and Deputy Speaker Lin Zhi-zhan for three years.
The move comes as the two party officials were released on bail for a second time as part of an investigation into alleged vote-buying related to December's Tainan City Council speakership election.
The three-year suspension is the heaviest penalty for party members short of expulsion.
Both Qiu and Lin had requested their party membership be suspended on 9 January, as they await the results of the investigation into vote buying by the Tainan District Prosecutors' Office.
However, the DPP's Central Evaluation Committee says it chose to suspend them for three years after the city council officials were questioned once again early Tuesday morning.
Qiu and Lin have released separate statements - in which they accept the punishments handed out by the party's evaluation committee.
