Following the passage of a major pension reform bill, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday announced that he would no longer run or hold any public office after the end of his term, as his mission of rolling out reforms would be completed by then.
“After the end of this term, I will not run anymore. I will not hold any position in the government, state-run businesses and legal entities or the DPP,” Tuan wrote on Facebook. “People who want to get back at me have to do it now. I will probably not be reachable in the future.”
The legislator-at-large has proposed and endorsed progressive bills on pension reform and same-sex marriage, making him a major target of criticism by reform opponents and conservatives.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平) on Monday threatened to “go after” Tuan “with thousands of knives” until the end of Tuan’s political career, after Tuan’s proposal to minimize the phaseout period of an 18 percent preferential savings rate for public employees was adopted.
A draft bill on pension reform proposed by Tuan included clauses that would accelerate the pace of pension cuts — including a two-year phaseout of the preferential savings rate, which was passed into law on Tuesday — and would lower the income replacement ratio for public employees to 60 percent in five years, which influenced the DPP caucus into accelerating the ratio cut from a proposed 15 years to 10 years.
Tuan has also endorsed a draft bill to legalize same-sex marriage by amending the Civil Code and has voiced objections to proposals to legislate a special same-sex marriage law, which advocates and opponents consider a middle ground.
“Those who criticize and threaten to chase and kill me do not understand me. As a legislator-at-large, I have chosen the most unpopular Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee [of the Legislative Yuan] because there are missions to complete, including marriage equality, pension reform, transitional justice and legislative reform,” Tuan wrote.
The committee last year completed reviews of transitional justice and marriage equality bills, followed by pension reform this year, and is to begin reviewing legislation to reform the legislature next year, Tuan added.
The DPP did not comment on the announcement, which nearly amounts to a withdrawal from politics.
Tuan is a figurehead of the DPP’s New Tide faction, arguably the most influential group in the party.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
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
RSS