The first non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative speaker is to be elected today by the ninth legislature, which is scheduled to take office this morning, putting an end to outgoing Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) 17-year tenure as speaker.
The Legislative Yuan is to open its doors to the 113 new legislators at 8am, when they are required to report for duty before being sworn in.
The new lawmakers are also to vote on the legislature’s new speaker in the morning and deputy speaker in the afternoon, who are to also be inaugurated today.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to have a legislative majority, holding 68 of the 113 seats, followed by the KMT with 35 seats, the New Power Party with five and the People First Party (PFP) with three.
The remaining two seats are to be occupied by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator May Chin (高金素梅) and independent lawmaker Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇).
According to the Organic Law of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法), any political party that holds more than three seats is allowed to form a caucus, meaning the new legislature is to consist of four caucuses, as Chin and Chao had previously expressed their intent to participate in the PFP’s and DPP’s caucuses respectively.
In the speakership election, the DPP has nominated legislator-elect Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) as its candidate, who is to compete against outgoing KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆).
The deputy speakership is to be contested by DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and KMT legislator-elect William Tseng (曾銘宗).
As the DPP enjoys its first majority in the new legislature, the party’s Su-Tsai ticket is expected to win without any significant problems.
However, the DPP caucus yesterday said it is still diligently trying to make sure that each of its 69 members cast their ballots accordingly.
“Before the vote, the caucus is to meet and all members are to enter the legislative chamber together to cast their votes to ensure that we secure all 69 votes,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said. “We do not want any accidents.”
Meanwhile, Wang, the nation’s longest-serving legislative speaker, is to serve his fourth and likely last term as a KMT legislator-at-large.
For the post-Wang era, the DPP has announced a plan to push for legislative reforms and the passage of a number of major draft bills, such as the draft presidential transition act and the draft political party act.
KMT deputy caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said the KMT caucus would continue to propose policies of interest to the nation and its people before president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) takes office on May 20.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS