Amid vote-buying accusations from the pan-blue camp, the legislature meets today to elect a new legislative speaker and deputy speaker.
The opposition alliance of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party (PFP) and the New Party yesterday vowed to impose disciplinary measures on party members who do not support incumbent Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday confirmed its support for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Legislator Ker Chien-ming (
PHOTO: CHOU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Ker will name his running mate today.
The Non-Partisan Solidarity Union yesterday said it would support the Wang-Chung ticket. TSU caucus whip Huang Tsung-yuan (
"The TSU's 12 lawmakers will cast their votes for Ker. Those refusing to toe the party line will receive the most severe punishment," Huang told reporters after a caucus meeting.
Citing media reports, KMT Chairman Lien Chan queried whether the DPP had been involved in vote-buying.
Rumors have circulated that the DPP offered bribes to opposition lawmakers to support the DPP ticket. KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (
Lee said his colleagues had heard that the DPP was attempting to bribe opposition lawmakers in order to secure an election victory for Ker, but he provided no evidence to back the allegations.
PFP Legislator Shen Chih-huei (沈智慧), who had expressed interest in running for deputy speaker and was rumored to be preparing to defy her party, yesterday visited Wang and Chung in a show of support.
"I'm afraid that if I don't come out now to show my support for them, the public will misunderstand me," she said. "It's clear enough who I'll vote for, since I'm here today."
New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (
"We don't have problems of discipline. All four of our lawmakers will join the KMT caucus and pave the way for a future merger of the KMT, the PFP and the New Party," he said at a press conference.
Except for Wu Cheng-tien (
Also see story:
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS