The Executive Yuan has accepted the resignation of Hsueh Chiu-fa (
Hsueh, appointed on Wednesday by the Executive Yuan to replace Hsiao Chia-chi (蕭家旗) -- who was removed over the voting procedure dispute -- tendered his resignation after news of his indictment in a gambling case surfaced earlier yesterday.
NEW REGULATIONS
Hsueh was indicted by prosecutors in connection with the operation of an illegal gambling outfit, making Hsueh ineligible to serve as a member of the election commission under regulations passed late last month.
The changes enacted by the CEC on Dec. 26 stipulated three conditions under which it may request that the Executive Yuan discharge members of local election commissions: when a local election commission member is unable to carry out his or her duties because of illness; is found to have violated laws or committed a dereliction of duty; or is detained or indicted in a case.
The Cabinet did not know about Hsueh's indictment when it chose him for the position, Shieh said, adding that paperwork to appoint him to the commission had been filed before the new regulations were enacted.
As Hsueh no longer qualifies to serve on the local election commission, the Executive Yuan relieved him of the position, Shieh said.
NATIONWIDE REVIEW
Shieh also called on all 25 local election commissions to review whether the new regulations affected any of their members, he said.
"In the meantime, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung [張俊雄] has appointed attorney Tsai Shou-nan [蔡壽男] to replace Hsueh. Tsai has been named the chairman of Taichung City Election Commission to ensure the smooth progress of election preparations," Shieh said.
Hsueh said yesterday he was innocent of the charges against him.
"I have nothing to do with the case. It was a false accusation and I'm an upright business owner," he said. "I resigned because I didn't want to cause any controversy."
His predecessor Hsiao was replaced because he insisted on implementing two-step voting for the Jan. 12 legislative elections and two referendums.
The CEC has ruled that one-step voting will be used, in which voters will receive referendum and election ballots simultaneously.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung (唐嘉鴻) on Sunday won gold in the men’s horizontal bar final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Tang scored 14.966 in the final. He had advanced to the final in second place with a score of 14.566 points in qualifying, with a difficulty score of 6.000 and an execution score of 8.566. In the final, he raised his difficulty score to 6.600, the highest among the eight finalists. Although he did not fully steady himself on landing, his score was still enough to claim the gold medal. Taiwan had previously won two silver medals and
EYE ON 2027: The US military has placed equipment, materiel and personnel on the islands near China, a US officer said while warning about the threat from China The US Army Pacific (USARPAC) is deploying forces and equipment across the region based on the assumption that Beijing could possess the military capability and the intent to invade Taiwan by next year, a top US commander said on Tuesday. Speaking at the TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu, US General Ronald Clark said that the threat posed by the so-called “Davidson window” is “still valid,” US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on Wednesday. The term stems from a 2021 warning by Admiral Philip Davidson, then-head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, that the threat of Chinese military action against Taiwan could materialize
‘ONE CHINA’ DECISION: A Cabinet spokesperson said that Pakistan had pandered to Beijing, and disregarded international rules and reality with the overflight ban The first Taiwanese commercial aircraft since restrictions were lifted flew over Pakistan yesterday morning following an abrupt U-turn by authorities to approve permits that were briefly revoked due to Islamabad’s “one China” policy. EVA Airways (長榮航空) Flight 65 from Taipei to Vienna entered Pakistani airspace at about 3:30am local time, Flightradar24 tracking data showed. All other Europe-bound EVA Air and China Airlines (華航) flights that departed late on Wednesday night into early yesterday morning opted to use Russian airspace, or go via India. The airlines had been forced to detour, including flying over Russia, since Sunday, after Pakistan shut its airspace to Taiwanese
BUILDING LINKS: Taipei and Europe should cooperate ‘so that no single supplier and no single government can hold our shared future hostage,’ an official said Beijing has no say in Taiwan’s partnerships with European countries, Formosa Club acting chair Rihards Kols, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), told a forum in Taipei yesterday. The Formosa Club, an interparliamentary group of European lawmakers, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cohosted the Trusted Technology Forum for Democracies, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and drone technologies. In his opening speech, Kols said it is crucial that people meet and understand each other’s concerns, and work out how they can help. The club has brought European parliamentarians to the second annual forum to understand Taiwan better and seek
RSS