Despite opposition from pan-blue lawmakers, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday designated Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) as the new chairman of the Central Election Council (CEC). In addition to Chang and 12 other members appointed by Yu, the legislative caucuses of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Part (PFP) will each designate one more member to make up the 16-person council.
According to the statute governing the organization of the CEC, the council should have 11 to 19 council members, including the council chairman. Their tenure is three years. The premier makes the appointments, pending the approval of the president. The council's current term is due to expire tomorrow.
However, according to the newly passed Organic Standard Law of the Central Government Agencies (
While opposition lawmakers did not object to any of the 12 members Yu nominated, they expressed strong reservations about Chang, who was criticized for having pro-independence leanings.
"We're not asking that the council chairman has to be one of our own, but that person has to be politically neutral, because the council is an independent institution," said KMT Legislator Huang Teh-fu (黃德福). "Besides, Chang has little experience in election affairs."
Although Chang is not a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, he was appointed as a member of the CEC two years ago and serves in the council's five-member legal team.
In one of the lawsuits following in the wake of the presidential election, the opposition alliance accused the CEC of having failed to properly separate people when they were voting in the election and the referendum.
While the statute governing the CEC's structure does not require the legislature's approval for the appointment of the council's chairman and members, Huang said that the Cabinet should have waited until the Organic Standard Law of the Central Government Agencies takes effect before announcing the appointments.
The legislature passed the law on the last day of the legislative session on Friday. The new legislation gives the legislature the right to approve the heads of the government's five independent institutions, which includes the CEC.
PFP lawmaker Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷) said that the caucus does not rule out the possibility of requesting a legal interpretation from the Council of Grand Justices.
"We're completely disappointed with the DPP government, which claims to respect democracy but in fact does exactly the opposite," Hsieh said. "We hope the DPP government exercises self-restraint and stops meddling in the CEC, which is supposed to be an independent government organ."
The Democratic Action Alliance (民主行動聯盟) also voiced opposition to Chang's appointment, calling him a "grave disgrace of the CEC."
"If he eventually becomes the head of the CEC, the council's reputation and credibility will go bankrupt and the nation's democracy will be severely trampled," said Hsieh Ta-ning (
In response to the criticism, Chang said that he would exert himself to remain politically neutral in his new job.
"I've never been a DPP member, but I identify with the DPP administration's ideals such as safeguarding human rights and respecting the rule of law," Chang said. "I think my appointment has a lot to do with my insisting on pushing for reforms."
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS