Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) tendered his resignation yesterday after 11 of the 29 Control Yuan nominees recommended by the Presidential Office were rejected by the legislature, where the KMT holds a majority.
At press time last night, it had not been confirmed whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accepted Lin’s resignation. Ma, who is also the KMT chairman, is widely expected to ask Lin to stay in his post for the next round of nominations to fill the 11 slots.
Lin yesterday said that as the “frontline commander,” he was taking responsibility for the unexpected outcome of the vote.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Lin and the KMT caucus blamed outgoing Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊) for the “surprising outcome” on Tuesday night, after it became clear that KMT lawmakers had failed to vote in line with the party’s wishes.
Not only was incoming Control Yuan president Chang Po-ya’s (張博雅) nomination confirmed by only a hair’s breadth, 11 of the 27 candidates for Control Yuan members were voted down by the legislature, despite Ma’s insistence on a “complete passage that leaves no one behind.”
At a press conference held immediately after the votes had been tallied, Lin said that Wang’s accusations of wrongdoing — including accepting gifts — by incumbent members affected the vote for those seeking a second term.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Lin said he respected the outcome of the vote, but regretted that “some of nominees did not have enough time to clear the doubts against them.”
Meanwhile, KMT headquarters laid the blame on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director Fan Chiang Chi-tai (范姜基泰), saying late on Tuesday that the disappointing outcome was a result of the DPP’s “deliberate fabrication of false information about some nominees.”
Chang, the new helmswoman of the Control Yuan, visited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and the two party caucuses yesterday.
Asked about the low support she garnered, she said it was “the product of political wrestling.”
Chang also expressed her concern about the operation of the institution when DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯健銘) called on Ma not to submit a new list of nominees to fill the 11 positions.
She said it would be harder to impeach officials given the current number of members.
Ker said it was a problem that could be easily fixed.
“What matters now is to rebuild the institution’s image. Ma’s next round of nominees would not be the best choice and they would be nominated just for the sake of being nominated,” Ker said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said Ma would have a new list of nominees before the next legislative session starts.
SOLVED: Domestic orders have already overtaken the total sold to China last year, while the Canadian and US representative offices posted messages of support A joint effort by groups and individuals in Taiwan and abroad to prop up sales of pineapples after China announced a ban on imports of the fruit succeeded in just four days, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday. China on Friday announced that it would suspend imports of Taiwanese pineapples starting on Monday, citing biosafety concerns. Following the announcement, the council urged the public to assist farmers by purchasing pineapples, saying it hoped to sell 20,000 tonnes of the fruit domestically and 30,000 tonnes in exports. “Domestic orders have already surpassed the total sold to China last year,” COA Minister
Taiwanese netizens and politicians yesterday mocked a Chinese plan to build a transportation network linking Beijing and Taipei, calling it “science fiction” and “daydreaming.” Their comments were in reaction to the Chinese State Council’s release last week of its “Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan,” which include several proposed transportation links, with one map showing a line running from China’s Jingjinji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei. “This is the Chinese leadership daydreaming again of [fulfilling its] fantasy of extending China’s transportation network to Taiwan. I suggest people regard it as science fiction,” Democratic Progressive
‘ONE PERSON PER UNIT’: People undergoing home isolation cannot stay in a housing unit in which non-isolated people live, unless they have special approval Starting tomorrow, people under home isolation would be required to follow the “one person per housing unit” rule if in private housing, or stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the rules require people under home quarantine to be quarantined with one person per housing unit, or at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility. “Starting on March 1, individuals under home isolation will also be subject to the ‘one person per housing unit’ rule,” he said. “We
‘UNITED FRONT’: Grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or hosts is a Chinese tactic to spread propaganda to influence young people, a source said As part of its “united front” tactics, China has been grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or Internet program hosts, a source said on condition of anonymity. Over the past year, about 1,000 Taiwanese living in China have participated in training programs and competitions for show hosts held in several cities, including Xiamen, Wenzhou and Hangzhou, the source said on Saturday. “Beijing is taking advantage of the openness of the Internet to spread propaganda about acceptance of China, and about ‘national security,’” the source said, adding that Taiwan’s national security officials are racing to fix the problem. Chinese infiltration of
RSS