The legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) that will allow cities and counties to integrate into special municipalities. The amendment paves the way for the elevation of the status of a merged Taichung City and Taichung County.
The amendment states that the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) or a city or county may initiate a merger plan and that plan needs the approval of the Executive Yuan.
“Cities and counties interested in a merger are welcome to file their application by May 31 after obtaining permission for a merger plan from their city or county council,” Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) told a press conference yesterday.
PHOTO: CNA
Liao said his ministry would not take the initiative to suggest any mergers and the amendment “was not tailor-made for the merger of Taichung City and Taichung County.”
“All applications will be treated equally without discrimination. The Executive Yuan will consider each application in a fair, impartial and public way,” Liao said.
The amendment, however, was still widely viewed as a move to deliver on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promise to merge Taichung City and Taichung County into a municipality, part of his plan to redraw administrative districts to create three metropolitan areas and 15 counties.
Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator from Taichung City, treated lawmakers to candy after the bill was passed, while her colleague Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) displayed an artificial string of firecrackers while expressing thanks for the passage of the bill.
Integration of cities and counties will enable them to meet one of the requirements — a population of more than 1.25 million — needed to upgrade their status to a special municipality, which will result in a substantial increase in the budget allocated by the central government.
The amendment was also supported by the Democratic Progressive Party, but the party called on the Executive Yuan to be impartial in considering the subject.
“We are happy to see upgraded status for a merged Taichung City and Taichung County, but we hope the KMT will support mergers for Tainan City and Tainan County, and Kaohsiung City and Kaohisung County and elevate both of them to special municipalities as well,” DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said.
If the plan to merge Taichung City and Taichung County is approved by the Executive Yuan, the terms of the Taichung City mayor and Taichung County commissioner, as well as village and township chiefs, will be extended by one year to the end of next year, Liao said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) of the Puyuma Aboriginal tribe said she wasn’t happy about the amendment.
“The new version of the law did not mention anything about protecting Aboriginal rights in mountain Aboriginal townships after counties merge with cities to become directly administrated cities,” she said.
The current Local Government Act stipulates that mountain Aboriginal township heads must be Aborigines. For example, the mayor of Taichung County’s Heping Township (和平) — an Atayal township — must be an Aborigine.
However, once Taichung County merges with Taichung City to become a new expanded Taichung City, Heping Township would become Heping District within the city and the head of Heping District would be appointed by the mayor.
“Although they did pass a resolution suggesting that the mayor should appoint an Aborigine to the post of an Aboriginal district head, the resolution is not legally binding,” she said.
In related news, Liao said the government would propose an amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) and a bill regarding the country’s administration division in two months to make necessary adjustments to budget allocations and administrative demarcations following the passage of the amendment.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique