A KMT lawmaker yesterday branded the party's mobilization policy "improper" after he disobeyed a caucus order at Friday's legislative assembly.
"The party caucus should not impose political ideology upon lawmakers for issues that should be above politics, such as the confirmation date for grand-justice nominees," Chen Hung-chang (
On Friday, Chen refused to vote with his party for a postponement on the confirmation date for nominees. He sided with pan-green legislators by voting for the Legislative Yuan to finish the confirmation by extended session.
"I had made my position clear against the order to caucus whip Liu Cheng-hung (
"The KMT is not a party in which one person alone has the say. The mobilization politicized the legislative jurisdiction," he said.
Despite the vote orders issued by the KMT and PFP, four pan-blue lawmakers -- one from the PFP and three from the KMT -- were absent from the legislative showdown.
Chen, meanwhile, ignored his caucus' instructions when the legislative assembly dealt with the resolution requiring state-owned companies to withdraw their investment from the Taiwan High Speed Railway. He voted no to the resolution.
"The high speed railway project was started in the previous KMT government. I regret the oppositions' stance, which will plunge the construction project into financial difficulty if approved," Chen said. Chen's opinion was met with hostility by the KMT caucus. Party whip Liu said that all mobilization violators will face a disciplinary review after the vote.
The other two KMT absentees were Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮) and Tseng Tsai Mei-tso (曾蔡美佐) who both said they were unable to make the vote.
As for Legislator Yang Fumei (
Chung blasted Chen's decision to vote against his party.
"The lawmaker should carry out his legislative power in accordance with the fact that he is a member of the KMT and he must follow the caucus' decision since the caucus represents the majority opinion," the PFP whip said.
Chung disagreed with Chen's view that the justice review was above the party's political ideology.
"The political chaos within the country demonstrates that no disputes can be resolved without ideological rivalry," he said.
Another controversy relating to the mobilization order took place on Wednesday when members of the Home and Nations Committee engaged in a review of the controversial referendum draft bill.
The review ended with a surprise first reading declared by the convener Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), a TSU lawmaker whose party is devoted to promoting the referendum legislation.
Chen said he announced the approval in accordance with the legislative procedure law, stipulating that the committee may announce the wrap up of the first examination and pass unfinished draft articles to the second round review at the legislative assembly when members of the committee requested to adjourn the meeting ahead of time.
"I carried out a convener's duty and coped with the request from seven opposition lawmakers to dissolve the meeting by a vote. The opposition have no need to question about the vote credibility since it was the legislative staff, not me, who counted the votes," Chen said.
The opposition alliance, with a majority of 11 seats on the committee, unexpectedly submitted to the vote.
Chen said the absence of five opposition lawmakers' from the review gave the pan-greens an advantage.
The forming of a pan-blue alliance for next year's presidential election has given the opposition a numerical edge of 112 seats at the legislature. The pan-greens have a total of 101 seats.
Chen said there was pressure within his party as well as in the pan-green parties concerning mobilization orders.
"The numerical confrontation has worsened the legislative efficiency in this session after the pan-blue alliance applied the tactic to the Procedure Committee and successfully boycotted a number of bills presented by the DPP and TSU," he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS