Opposition lawmakers yesterday set up a task force to probe alleged misconduct in a government egg import program, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said the legislature does not have the power to investigate the matter and walked out in protest.
The proposal came at an Economics Committee session which was headed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), who alternates with the other coconvener, DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩).
KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have a combined majority in the 14-member committee to approve the task force.
Photo: CNA
The DPP committee members opposed the task force, saying it would exceed the legislature’s authority as outlined in the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and contravene the Constitution, by disrupting the separation of powers between the five branches of government.
Yang continued with the procedure and DPP members left the session in protest.
After the vote, opposition parties lawmakers agreed that TPP Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張?楷) would lead the task force.
Photo: CNA
Chang and Yang announced the task force’s immediate operation through Dec. 31.
Yang said the task force would probe controversies associated with the government’s egg import program from 2022 to last year, focusing on the Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies regarding allegations of officials giving undue benefit to Kaohsiung-based Ultra Source Ltd.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that prosecutors and the Control Yuan are investigating the egg import program, therefore setting up a task force would contravene the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power.
“Public prosecutors in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung and Changhua County have carried out investigations on alleged misconduct in the egg import program, so lawmakers must first wait for the outcome on these probes,” Chen said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its