Taiwan People's Party Moves Fast: Legislator Expelled After Demanding Payment to Give Up Her Seat

The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) announced on April 13 that its Central Advisory Committee (CAC) had voted unanimously to expel party member and legislator Li Zhen-xiu (李貞秀), with the decision taking immediate effect.

The expulsion followed a disciplinary review launched after hundreds of party members filed signed complaints against Li. The TPP's Central Committee referred the case to the CAC for action, and legislative caucus convener Chen Ching-lung (陳清龍) submitted supporting evidence for investigation.

The CAC invited both Chen and Li to appear before it to present their accounts of the relevant meetings and subsequent evidence. Following the inquiry, the committee cited four grounds for expulsion: that Li's statements and conduct had repeatedly and seriously damaged the party's reputation and undermined internal cohesion; that the violations were continuous in nature; that she had disregarded her obligations to the public and her supporters; and that she had committed serious violations of party discipline and political ethics.

At the heart of the case was an incident at an April 7 party meeting, at which Li explicitly made her resignation from her party-list legislative seat conditional on receiving a specific monetary payment — a demand the committee described as a serious breach of the ethical obligations of public office. Even after caucus convener Chen cautioned her and stressed the public-interest nature of a party-list seat, Li continued to insist that payment was a prerequisite for her resignation.

The CAC concluded that Li's sustained misconduct had severely damaged the party's image, and that public office cannot be treated as a commodity. It stated that her attempt to leverage her resignation for financial gain had seriously undermined the integrity of party politics, betrayed the trust of her supporters, and harmed the party's clean-governance brand and public standing.

Citing Articles 32 and 36 of the party's Disciplinary Review and Adjudication Standards — which provide for expulsion in cases of serious violations by elected representatives, subject to approval by a two-thirds majority of attending CAC members — the committee voted unanimously to strip Li of her party membership, effective immediately.

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