Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien said yesterday the government watchdog would look into the responsibilities of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) in the government’s handling of the Typhoon Morakot emergency.
A number of Control Yuan members have said that they would like to submit a report on the subject to the legislature, the organ authorized by the Constitution to impeach the president and vice president.
In accordance with the additional articles to the Constitution, the nation’s president or vice president can be removed from their posts if Grand Justices of the Judicial Yuan uphold an impeachment motion initiated by the legislature.
PHOTO: YU HSUEH-LAN, TAIPEI TIMES
The impeachment process against the president or vice president can be initiated if the proposal is made by more than one-half of the lawmakers in the legislature and passed by more than two-thirds of legislators, whereupon it would be presented to the Judicial Yuan for adjudication.
Wang had previously said the highest-level official the Control Yuan could investigate was the premier, because it has no constitutional right to impeach Ma.
He did not say whether he supported presenting the Control Yuan’s report to the legislature, which is expected to be completed within three months.
The Control Yuan said that it would review the government’s handling of weather prediction, the disaster rescue system, flood prevention and management projects, soil and water conservation work, roads and bridges maintenance, national land planning, post-disaster accommodation for victims and reconstruction, post-disaster disease control and prevention, as well as price stabilization.
Meanwhile, Control Yuan members Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) and Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬) said yesterday they would visit Kaohsiung City tomorrow to hear people’s complaints.
Huang said that he and a colleague, Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥), were assigned to investigate the tragedy in Siaolin Village (小林), Jiasian Township (甲仙), Kaohsiung County.
The mountain village was buried by mud and debris that were washed down by a powerful landslide caused by heavy rainfall on Aug. 8.
As many as 400 residents of the village are believed to have perished.
Huang said he would try to determine the extent of the damage done to the Pingpu Aboriginal village and culture and whether the surviving residents were properly resettled.
Chen has been tasked with finding out what doomed the village, Huang said.
ADDITONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS