Eleven Control Yuan candidates nominated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), from a list of 29 that has been described by opposition parties as “the worst roster in history,” were voted down by the legislature yesterday.
The vote took place after a blockade by opposition parties in the early morning and subsequent cross-party negotiation led the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to agree not to enforce party discipline on how its legislators voted.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers arrived on the legislature’s floor an hour before the meeting started and occupied the legislative speaker’s podium, protesting the ruling party’s resolution made on Monday, despite dissent from some KMT members, that the party as a whole would “give full support to all of the nominees.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
During the blockade, the opposition also accused some of the nominees of influence-peddling before the start of the second legislative extraordinary session that had been scheduled to execute the confirmation vote.
The KMT caucus had concluded on Monday that party discipline would be used if any of its legislators voted otherwise, and refused to promise not to supervise how its legislators voted by requiring them to show their marked ballots.
The opposition’s blockade did not end until just before noon yesterday, when the ruling party backed down and agreed to have the voting booths and boxes placed in a way that the voters would not be monitored. The KMT also agreed to allow the legislators to vote one by one, rather than in groups.
Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and Sun Ta-chuan’s (孫大川) nominations were approved for the positions of president and vice-president of the Control Yuan respectively.
Chang received 57 yes votes, 36 no votes and 14 invalid votes, while Sun had 60 yes votes, 33 no votes and 14 invalid votes.
The two are to begin their six-year terms on Friday.
The legislature conducted the confirmation vote for the rest of the nominees in the afternoon. After hours of voting and counting, it was revealed that 11 had failed to secure the required 57 votes, which is one more vote than half of the total 112 legislative seats.
Those who were voted down include former Food and Drug Administration director-general Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲), to whom the Control Yuan had issued at least 19 corrective measures concerning food safety during his term as head of the agency, former Public Construction Commission minister Fan Liang-shiow (范良銹), who had also several times been issued corrective directives by the Control Yuan, and Shih Hung-chih (施鴻志), a retired professor of urban planning with a record of handling controversial land expropriations.
National Medical University professor Wang Hui-po (王惠珀), Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳), who were not in the recommendation list at first, or voted out by the recommendation team then chosen by the president, were among the ousted.
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
RSS