Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he might seek to abolish the Control Yuan as he vowed to continue his boycott of Tainan City Council meetings, despite facing possible censure by the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission after the Control Yuan’s decision to impeach him.
Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has not attended Tainan City Council meetings since he was sworn in as mayor in December last year, saying he would not do so until a case involving Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) is resolved.
A first-round court found Lee guilty of giving money to councilors in exchange for support in last year’s speakership election, but he has appealed the decision.
Photo: CNA
Earlier this month, the Control Yuan impeached Lai, referring him to the commission for disciplinary action, which could include revocation of his role as mayor.
“If the commission decides to issue further sanctions, I will file a lawsuit to abolish the Control Yuan to defend my rights and constitutional principles, as well as not allowing the Control Yuan to illegally expand its power,” Lai said.
“Society has already reached a consensus to abolish the Control Yuan, because it is not only against constitutional principles, but has also become a tool for political manipulation,” he said. “It should be abolished for the nation’s sake and societal stability.”
If the commission asks him to explain himself, he would not attend a summons, Lai said, adding that he would reply in writing, because he is busy handling municipal affairs.
The DPP’s Central Standing Committee yesterday passed a resolution to push for a revision of the Local Government Act (地方制度法), requiring councilors to include their names on ballots when voting for speakership and deputy-speakership roles, Lai said, adding that a speaker or deputy speaker should be suspended if they are found guilty in a first-round trial.
“The measure is meant as the first step to clear the influence of black money in local politics,” Lai said. “I believe that, if implemented, the rule would help keep local politics clean."
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS