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.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS