The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) intends to honor its promise of allowing two lawmakers to share one seat in the Legislative Yuan and will officially announce the swap at the end of the month, the party said.
The party adopted the system of allowing two people to share one legislative seat after the slogan “One vote per family to help the TSU” helped the party garner 8.9 percent of the vote in the 2012 combined elections, TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said.
With only two years allotted to each legislator, the party would be able send six members to the legislature, Lin said, adding that as a small party the TSU has limited resources and the system would allow the party to utilize those resources most efficiently.
Lin stepped down as a lawmaker and was replaced by former Greater Kaohsiung councilor Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) in August last year.
The TSU’s two other legislators, Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) and Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲), will finish their two-year terms at the end of the month, Lin said.
Their seats will go to National Taipei College of Business dean Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) and the party’s organization department deputy director Chou Ni-an (周倪安), Lin said, adding that Hsu and Huang would be assuming the position of heads of the TSU Policy Research Committee and the Judiciary Reform Committee respectively.
Lin added that it was possible that both would run in this year’s elections.
Citing its resistance to allowing US beef containing traces of ractopamine to enter the market and its disapproval of the hikes in fuel and electricity prices, Lin said the TSU had accomplished a lot in the past two years, despite its minority presence in the legislature.
Lin added that by supporting the impeachment of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and opposing the completion of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao Dictrict (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and the proposed cross-strait service trade agreement, the TSU had garnered quite a bit of public support.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS