Legislative watchdog Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) yesterday released its evaluation of lawmakers’ performance in the past legislative session, with 10 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators and 14 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers commended for their good work.
More than 200 evaluators, most of whom were ordinary citizens from all walks of life, took part in CCW’s evaluation sessions across the country, CCW chairman Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華) said.
Using the legislature’s on-line video-on-demand system, the evaluators assessed the legislators’ performance on the legislative floor, said Ku, adding that the number of bills legislators initiated, their attendance record and possible blunders were also taken into consideration during the exercise.
Among all members of the Internal Administration Committee, the DPP’s William Lai (賴清德), Yu Tien (余天) and Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) received the best evaluations, Ku said.
The KMT’s Justin Chou (周守訓) and Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), as well as the DPP’s Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), received the best grade for the Foreign and National Defense Committee, while the DPP’s Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) topped the list for their work on the Economics Committee, Ku said.
On the Finance Committee, the DPP’s Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and the KMT’s Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) obtained the best scores, while the KMT’s Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲), Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) outperformed other lawmakers on the Education and Culture Committee, Ku said.
The KMT’s Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) and Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) topped the list on the Transportation Committee, while the DPP’s Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and the KMT’s Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) and Daniel Hwang (黃義交) were singled out for their performance on the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Ku said.
Hawang Shiow-duan (黃秀端), professor of political science at Soochow University and one of the evaluators, said some legislators, such as the DPP’s Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) and Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), did not perform well in the last legislative session because they were occupied with campaigning in the December city and county chief elections.
Kuo said that in addition to holding similar performance evaluations, the CCW would continue to push for the establishment of a TV channel like the US-based C-Span.
“Transparency at the legislature is a cornerstone of democracy,” Ku said.
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