The KMT's 210-seat Central Committee yesterday approved the party's slate of nominees for legislator-at-large amid complaints from committee members about their being treated as a "rubber stamp."
Each of the 41 recommended nominees passed ballots by Central Committee members without any surprising twists.
Topping the list of nominees are Legislative Yuan vice speaker Yao Eng-chi (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
A recommended nominee can only be screened out if over half of the Central Committee members vote against him. The order of the nominees will not be rearranged according to the number of approval votes they obtain.
This is the first time the KMT has let the Central Committee vote to decide the legislator-at-large nominees, which is part of the party's plan for internal democratic reform.
However, many outspoken lawmakers in attendance at the Central Committee meeting expressed strong opposition to the ballot rules which they say are undemocratic and give them little room to make changes to the list.
"We Central Committee members are here to serve simply as a rubber stamp," said legislator Chen Ching-pao (陳清寶).
Legislator Apollo Chen (
"Most people on the list are strangers to us, though none of them are our enemies. We don't know how are we going to exercise our right of veto," Chen said.
The 41 nominees were selected by the KMT's nomination review panels from a total of 130 contestants vying for the party's nomination. Only those who rank within the top 16 to 19 are considered likely to win seats, based on a forecast of the KMT's showing in the year-end legislative elections.
A total of 41 legislator-at-large seats are available, and they will be allocated to political parties according to their share of the vote in the constituency-based elections.
In addition to criticism of the ballot rules, reformists within the KMT expressed their disappointment that the party's nominees for legislator-at-large seats weren't innovative enough to renew its image.
"For the KMT, reform has yet to succeed," said Chen Feng-hsing (陳鳳馨), a Central Committee member and former KMT spokeswoman.
Chen said the party should have nominated more high-profile candidates to fill the legislator-at-large seats and win popular support for the KMT's legislative campaign.
Also, as Taiwan is facing its worst recession in decades, the KMT should have nominated as many economic professionals as possible, Chen said.
In response to these doubts, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"Today's event marks a very important milestone in the KMT's democratic development. In this process, we will learn how to make democratization more progressive," Lien said.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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