Four legislators yesterday announced the launch of a new legislative caucus — the Legislative Yuan New Alliance (LYNA, 立院新聯盟) — vowing to serve as the “adhesive” between the pan-green and pan-blue political camps.
The group’s four founding members are two legislators from the People First Party (PFP) — Thomas Lee (李桐豪) and Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) — as well as Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) and Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩) a former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member.
Lee, the convener of the group, said the new caucus would focus on reforms to the Constitution, as well as an oversight bill to monitor future cross-strait treaties.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Although all four members of the LYNA have traditionally been affiliated with the pan-blue camp, the group said it welcomed members of both the blue and green camps to join their discussions.
Hsu made headlines last month when she announced her withdrawal from the KMT, saying that she wanted to present an alternative option to the public as an independent.
Hsu said that the public was primarily against the proposed cross-strait service trade agreement because it was perceived as a “black box” deal that bypassed legislative deliberation.
She said that both major political camps should discuss potential cross-strait treaties in detail in a way that is acceptable to the public.
She added that Taiwan could not afford to cut off economic relations with China.
Chen said Taiwan should not boycott cross-strait trade pacts, but evaluate each clause carefully.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS