Two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday clashed with former New Party legislator Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) over whether he should remain a counselor to the Legislative Yuan now that he has been charged with sexual assault.
According to Legislative Yuan regulations, former lawmakers can be hired as unsalaried counselors, who may enter the Legislative Yuan freely.
Fung was accused of raping his former Filipina maid on Nov. 1, and a decision on the case is pending.
Two DPP female lawmakers, Tang pi-o (唐碧娥) and Chou Ya-shu (周雅淑), yesterday expressed unhappiness that Fung was continuing to enjoy the status of counselor and demanded that regulations be amended so that a person with a criminal conviction cannot serve as a counselor to the Legislative Yuan.
Tang said a counselor to the Legislative Yuan could move about within and use the resources of the legislature.
"But there are no restrictions within the regulations, and even the fugitive Wu Tze-yuan (伍澤元) retains his title of counselor. This is pretty strange," Tang said. "Do we need a rapist as our counselor?"
Chou said that female legislative employees may feel uncomfortable or even frightened when "people like Fung" were walking around the Legislative Yuan.
"To prevent former lawmakers involved in criminal cases from continuing as counselors to the Legislative Yuan, we should amend the regulations so that criminals cannot be hired as counselors, or else if counselors commit a crime, then their title should be removed," Chou said.
Fung later entered the Legislative Yuan to hold a press conference in his defense. When he ran into Tang, the two yelled at each other, later joined by DPP Legislator Cheng Chao-ming (鄭朝明), who was holding his own press conference nearby.
DPP lawmakers demanded that Fung leave the Legislative Yuan, and he was escorted out by police.
Speaking outside the Legislative Yuan, Fung said the DPP lawmakers were violating his rights because his case was still being heard by the court.
"I believe in my own innocence and the impartiality of the judges, so I won't make any assumptions," Fung said, when asked about the DPP lawmakers' demand that his counselor status be revoked.
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
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
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
RSS