Opposition lawmakers yesterday slammed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), saying he had shirked responsibility by insisting he was not aware of Supreme Court Judge Shao Yen-ling’s (邵燕玲) controversial ruling in a sexual assault case before nominating her to the Council of Grand Justices.
Ma apologized yesterday for his initial nomination of Shao for a seat on the Council of Grand Justices on Thursday after a public outcry over a controversial ruling handed down by a collegial panel led by Shao last year on the sexual assault of a three-year-old girl.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) blasted Ma’s defense as an attempt to “shirk responsibility.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“Ma’s remarks were unacceptable,” Gao told a press conference. “Just because Shao did not tell Ma [about her controversial ruling] and Ma did not know does not mean Ma was not in the wrong.”
DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) said Ma himself chose the wrong person and yet he was letting Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who headed the special task force recommending and screening candidates, shoulder the responsibility.
Saying the incident showed a lack of thoroughness in the screening process for the nomination, Gao suggested all Council of Grand Justices nominees be reconsidered.
The DPP caucus added that changing a nominee and offering apologies are not enough, asking the Ma government to make clear what went wrong in the nomination process.
If Ma failed to clear up the matter, it is the president himself who should be replaced, the lawmakers said.
In reference to the so-called “dinosaur” judges deemed unfit for the positions, DPP Deputy -Secretary-General Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) called the Ma administration “an administration of dinosaurs.”
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) also ridiculed Ma’s choices of nominees, saying he might as well nominate singer Lotus Wang (王彩樺), who could at least give the people a semblance of hope by singing her song Bo Peep Bo Peep (有唱有保庇), which is about asking deities for protection and good luck.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
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