The first non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative speaker is to be elected today by the ninth legislature, which is scheduled to take office this morning, putting an end to outgoing Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) 17-year tenure as speaker.
The Legislative Yuan is to open its doors to the 113 new legislators at 8am, when they are required to report for duty before being sworn in.
The new lawmakers are also to vote on the legislature’s new speaker in the morning and deputy speaker in the afternoon, who are to also be inaugurated today.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to have a legislative majority, holding 68 of the 113 seats, followed by the KMT with 35 seats, the New Power Party with five and the People First Party (PFP) with three.
The remaining two seats are to be occupied by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator May Chin (高金素梅) and independent lawmaker Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇).
According to the Organic Law of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法), any political party that holds more than three seats is allowed to form a caucus, meaning the new legislature is to consist of four caucuses, as Chin and Chao had previously expressed their intent to participate in the PFP’s and DPP’s caucuses respectively.
In the speakership election, the DPP has nominated legislator-elect Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) as its candidate, who is to compete against outgoing KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆).
The deputy speakership is to be contested by DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and KMT legislator-elect William Tseng (曾銘宗).
As the DPP enjoys its first majority in the new legislature, the party’s Su-Tsai ticket is expected to win without any significant problems.
However, the DPP caucus yesterday said it is still diligently trying to make sure that each of its 69 members cast their ballots accordingly.
“Before the vote, the caucus is to meet and all members are to enter the legislative chamber together to cast their votes to ensure that we secure all 69 votes,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said. “We do not want any accidents.”
Meanwhile, Wang, the nation’s longest-serving legislative speaker, is to serve his fourth and likely last term as a KMT legislator-at-large.
For the post-Wang era, the DPP has announced a plan to push for legislative reforms and the passage of a number of major draft bills, such as the draft presidential transition act and the draft political party act.
KMT deputy caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) said the KMT caucus would continue to propose policies of interest to the nation and its people before president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) takes office on May 20.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS