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.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS