The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was in disarray yesterday over whether to take a stand on rejecting two grand justice nominees.
KMT legislative whip Lee Chia-chin (
"The KMT is considering rejecting two grand justice nominees, Lin Tsu-yi (
Lee said that a KMT panel examining the nominees was considering presenting a proposal to the legislature to remove Lin and Hsu from the list of nominees before the confirmation vote next week.
The proposal must be made before Tuesday, when the Legislative Yuan needs to wrap up the confirmation. The confirmation process was delayed by two months after pan-blue lawmakers demanded more time to consider the nominees.
But after a meeting of KMT legislators later in the day, Lee's colleagues said that a majority favored a truce over political confrontation regarding Lin and Hsu's nomination.
"Most attendants agreed that the KMT should follow public opinion and avoid provoking a legislative showdown on such an issue," KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (
He persuaded his colleagues to conclude yesterday's meeting without demanding the Presidential Office withdraw the two nominees.
The KMT caucus will agree to Lin and Hsu even though "their nomination was indeed arguable," Lee said.
The three KMT lawmakers leading the move to reject the two nominees -- Lee Chia-chin, Liao Fung-te (
Last night, Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The controversy over Lin and Hsu centers on the lack of laws regarding the qualifications of grand justices.
For Control Yuan members, for example, the experience requirement is calculated on the day before they take office.
If the same rules were applied to Lin and Hsu, they would be qualified, as they would both have been teaching for more than 10 years by their inauguration on Oct. 3.
Hsu Yu-hsiou, a professor of law at National Chengchi University, said legal practitioners and scholars reached a consensus over the dispute that the grand justice's seniority should follow the same rules as for Control Yuan members.
"But it is the lawmakers' jurisdiction to carry out the final confirmation," she said outside the legislature yesterday afternoon.
In other news, a group of Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers visited the Judicial Yuan yesterday and petitioned for a constitutional interpretation on the legality of presidential tickets combining candidates from different parties.
The petition, which targets the pan-blue candidates KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Also see story:
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
STREAMLINED: The dedicated funding would allow the US to transfer equipment to Taiwan when needed and order upgraded replacements for stockpiles, a source said The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense appropriations bill totaling US$838.7 billion, of which US$1 billion is to be allocated to reinforcing security cooperation with Taiwan and US$150 million to replace defense articles provided to the nation. These are part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act, which the US House yesterday passed with 341 votes in favor and 88 against. The act must be passed by the US Senate before Friday next week to avoid another government shutdown. The US House Committee on Appropriations on Monday unveiled the act, saying that it allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative
RSS