The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) yesterday nominated nine members to a committee investigating the March 19 assassination attempt, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) refused to participate.
According to the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例), the committee must consist of 17 members drawn from outside the legislature, the Control Yuan or other government agencies and state-run businesses.
Based on legislative proportions, the DPP can appoint six members, the KMT five, the PFP four, the TSU one and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) one.
All the nominees must be finalized and appointed by President Chen Shui-bian (
The nine members nominated by the pan-blue alliance include former Judicial Yuan president Shih Chi-yang (施啟揚), former Control Yuan members Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) and Chai Chung-chuan (翟宗泉), former Investigation Bureau director Wang Kuang-yu (王光宇), former grand justice Cheng Chien-tsai (鄭建才), former vice minister of national defense Chen Chao-mi (陳肇敏) and former representative to the US Stephen Chen (陳錫蕃).
The others are Fang Chung-min (方中民), a consultant to the Ministry of Justice's Institute of Forensic Medicine and Yu Yue-tang (
The NPSU nominated attorney Luo Ming-tung (
The DPP and TSU have made it clear that they will not take part in the committee because they believe the legislation establishing it is unconstitutional and tramples on the authority of judicial and prosecutorial officials.
DPP legislative caucus convenor Ker Chien-ming (
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (
The KMT and the PFP also suggested yesterday that the commission hold its first meeting next Monday.
Tseng Yung-chuan (
PFP Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
"I hope President Chen and the DPP aren't afraid of nominating committee members since they're in favor of an investigation committee, albeit one led by Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man