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:
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he