A recent internal debate within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over which of the various legislative committees they would like to sit on could force a number of legislators to use their professional expertise elsewhere.
An internal party poll of KMT legislators held to determine which of the legislature’s eight standing committees they would like to join had 18 KMT lawmakers signing up for the Economics Committee, 11 for the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, 10 for the Transportation Committee and nine for the Finance Committee.
Regulations limit the number of seats per committee to a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 15, with the Economics, Transportation and Finance committees usually allocated the most seats.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, urged the party on Thursday last week to let professionals contribute more to the legislative process in spite of party rules.
KMT caucus rules stipulate that newly elected legislators-at-large cannot sign up for the Economics, Finance, Transportation or other “favored” committees. Under the party’s “points accumulation” system, new constituency legislators are also usually left with committees that the “senior” legislators don’t want.
Thus, the chances of Legislator-at-large Tseng Chu-wei (曾巨威), a professor of finance at National Chengchi University, landing a spot on the Finance Committee appears low, as he faces strong competition from other senior KMT lawmakers.
Likewise, the KMT has five legislators-at-large who would seem to be ideal candidates for the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee — child protection specialist Alicia Wang (王育敏), disadvantaged patient representative Yang Yu-hsin (楊玉欣), workers’ rights activist Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁), medical field representative Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) and environmental protection specialist Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥) — but only a few are likely to make it to the committee.
The People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), with three legislative seats each, along with other minority parties without legislative caucuses, are expected to draw lots for committee placements next Wednesday.
The remaining seats would then go through two rounds of lot drawing between the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP): The first will be based on the parties’ legislative seat ratios, giving the KMT 55 seats and the DPP 33 seats; the nine and eight seats left to the KMT and the DPP respectively would be resolved in the second round of lot drawing.
If the minority parties land seats in the more popular committees, the KMT’s options, which are already limited after it lost 10 legislative seats in the Jan. 14 elections, would drop further.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff writer
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS