The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee yesterday passed a motion to lift a self-imposed term limit on legislator-at-large seats for legislative speakers, opening the door for Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) potential re-election for a fourth term.
The proposal, jointly submitted by five committee members, was passed with the signatures of 29 of the 39 members, without being put to a vote at a routine meeting of the committee in Taipei.
The motion recommends an amendment be made to Article 2 of the KMT’s regulations on nominations for legislators-at-large and overseas legislators, which stipulates that KMT legislators-at-large are generally allowed to serve one term, but those with special contributions to the party are eligible for re-election.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The last paragraph of the article — dubbed the “legislative speaker clause” — states that KMT members who meet the above criteria and also serve as legislative speakers are entitled to a third term as a legislator-at-large.
The “legislative speaker clause” was added to the regulations in October 2011, before the end of Wang’s second term as legislator-at-large, for the apparent sole purpose of allowing him to retain his role for a third consecutive term.
Wang first assumed the speakership in 1999.
Under the new amendment, KMT legislative speakers who fulfil requirements would be exempted from the three-term limit.
“The legislative speakership is held by a legislators-at-large whose power and influence are accorded by their party. As such, their neutrality and authority might be compromised and questioned if their party can strip them of their position at will … or block their re-election bid by imposing a term limit,” the motion stated.
“In an effort to let the party’s legislative speaker fulfil duties without distractions, we propose that the committee make an amendment to the nomination regulations for legislators-at-large,” it added.
KMT spokesperson Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said the committee did not discuss any specific KMT member or the party’s potential legislator-at-large candidates for the Jan. 16 elections at the meeting.
Prior to the meeting, KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) said ensuring neutrality in the speakership was one of the three legislative reforms he plans to push for, if he wins the presidential race.
“The other two planned reforms include improving the efficiency of the legislature and improving transparency in legislative negotiations,” Chu said.
None of the three reforms would be affected because of a single individual, Chu said.
“My objective is to establish a long-term system. Any KMT members who disapprove of, or refuse to accept, these pending changes will not be nominated by the party as its candidates,” he added.
Wang said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei that the passage of the motion indicated support from leaders of both the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party for a neutral legislative speaker and a reformed legislature.
“The public also looks forward to seeing these plans become a reality,” Wang said.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,