The pan-blue camp swept all the committee convener seats in the legislature yesterday, leaving the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with no authority to decide committee agendas during this legislative session.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators secured 15 seats, while Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) Legislator Kang Shih-ju (康世儒) won the remaining seat.
DPP lawmakers were able to win the same number of ballots as their KMT counterparts in the Economics Committee and the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee votes, but the odds went against the DPP during the subsequent drawing of lots.
The Organic Act of Legislative Committees (立法院各委員會組織法) states that committee chiefs enjoy the power to convene committee meetings and arrange the agenda.
The result of the elections went against the consensus reached during cross-party negotiations on Thursday last week that the pan-green camp could head the Economics Committee and the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) promised to enhance communication with the DPP within the committees.
DPP Policy Research Committee head Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) downplayed the party’s defeat in the committee elections, saying the DPP would still supervise the KMT administration.
KMT legislators Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) will head the Internal Administration Committee, while KMT legislators Liao Wan-ju (廖婉汝) and Liu Shen-liang (劉盛良) will take over the Foreign and National Defense Committee.
KMT lawmakers Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和) and Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) will be in charge of the Economics Committee, while the KMT’s Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) and the NPSU’s Kang will preside over the Finance Committee.
KMT Legislator Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) will head the Education and Culture Committee with her colleague Chiang Yi-hsiung (江義雄).
Transportation Committee heads are KMT legislators Yang Jen-fu (楊仁福) and Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝), while KMT legislators Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) and Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) will co-chair the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
KMT lawmakers Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) and Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) will convene the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee sessions.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
MESSAGE: The ministry said China and the Philippines are escalating regional tensions, and Taiwan should be included in dialogue mechanisms on an equal footing Taiwan has rejected renewed sovereignty claims over the South China Sea by the Philippines and China by reaffirming its sovereignty and rights under international law over the disputed area. “The Republic of China [ROC] enjoys all rights to island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea in accordance with international law and maritime laws,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement yesterday. Other countries’ attempts to claim sovereignty over the South China Sea do not change the fact that the ROC holds sovereignty over the region, the ministry said. The MOFA statement came after
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