Legislature voids election of head of finance comittee

The legislature yesterday nullified the election of KMT lawmaker Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) as convener of the Finance Committee on grounds he has held the post for two consecutive sessions.

The three conveners for each of the 12 standing committees are elected among each committee's 21 members.

Lo was elected to the leadership of the most popular committee during the first, second, fourth and fifth sessions in the last two and half years. There are six sessions for each three-year term of the legislature.

Lo could not be reached for comment and aides said he spent the day inspecting flood-affected areas in suburban Taipei.

Lawmakers from the DPP contested Lo's appointment at noon on Wednesday when Lo was elected convener of the committee for the third time in a row, in violation of internal rules.

Yesterday morning, they took the grievance to the legislature, which decided to withhold its recognition of the election's outcome.