By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Greater Kaohsiung chapter yesterday approved the application of Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), to rejoin the party, but DPP headquarters said the younger Chen is not yet eligible to apply.
The chapter approved Chen Chih-chung’s application yesterday afternoon. The approval would be reviewed by a panel at the party’s headquarters in Taipei, according to DPP regulations.
Chen Chih-chung said in a statement that he reluctantly withdrew from the DPP on June 14, 2010, to run in the Kaohsiung city councilor election as an independent, in the hopes of not hurting harmony and consolidation in the party.
However, DPP spokesperson Wang Ming-shen (王閔生) said Chen Chih-chung is not yet eligible to apply for rejoining the party as party regulations stipulate that expelled members could apply to rejoin the party five years after his or her dismissal.
Those who withdrew from the party to run in an election would be seen as expelled members, he added.
The younger Chen would be eligible to submit an application in June 2015, Wang said.
Chen Shui-bian, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for corruption, left the party in August 2008 amid a growing controversy over the investigations into corruption allegations against him.
A five-member DPP panel approved the elder Chen’s application to rejoin the party on Aug. 14 this year.