Both the legislative speaker and his deputy, as well as most caucus whips, are on the edge of failing or have failed in their legislative duties in the past two legislative terms, according to a report released by the Taipei Society yesterday.
The Taipei Society reviewed the performances of all lawmakers in the fourth and fifth terms of the fifth legislature.
According to the report, 43 lawmakers failed in their duties in the past two terms and 59 are on the group's probation list for near failure.
They contain almost 50 percent of all lawmakers. Seven of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union's 11 lawmakers -- 63.6 percent -- are listed among the 43 lawmakers failing in their duties.
"The criteria for failing are: failing to attend more than half of all committee sessions or appearing in two negative indexes out of the three we set," said Chang Mao-kuei (
The three negative indexes were: having been charged with a crime or sentenced, having conflicting interests and badmouthing other lawmakers or getting involved in physical conflicts. If a lawmaker attended more than half of the committee sessions but was listed in one negative index, their name was put on the probation list, Chang said.
The Taipei Society's list of lawmakers with conflicting interests includes 71 people, or about one-third of all lawmakers.
A conflict of interest was defined as owning or chairing the board of a company that might conflict with legislative duties, or being married to someone who holds such a post.
"Various surveys have shown that the legislature is the root of chaos: Almost half of the lawmakers have failed us, and at least one-third of the lawmakers have not avoided conflicts of interest, but the public could not see through that," said Lyu Hsiu-chu (
Both Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) was judged to have failed, while three People First Party caucus whips in the fourth and fifth terms were put on the probation list for different reasons.
The society also compiled a list of 39 lawmakers (18.1 percent) it considered to be relatively positive.
These include KMT caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (
The criteria for the list of positive lawmakers were signing up for at least two-thirds of the committee sessions and not being listed in a negative index.
The society's lists have been met with criticism from lawmakers, as well as reporters.
Reporters have expressed doubts among themselves about a few names on the relatively positive list because some of those praised by the Taipei Society have histories of controversial performances in previous legislative terms or had conflicts of interest.
A number of lawmakers, especially those who have been named as failures or out on the probation list, have ruthlessly criticized the Taipei Society, some even describing it as "blind."
"If the Taipei Society wants to conduct evaluations of the law-makers, it should do it regularly every one or two terms. It should not have released the report just before the election, which could manipulate the results," Huang said.
PFP Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷), the PFP caucus whip in the fifth term, said that he and his colleague PFP legislator-at-large Lee Tung-hao (李桐豪) did not deserve to be put on the failing list.
"Is the Taipei Society blind? It lists Lee, a model lawmaker, as failing in his duties," Hsieh said.
Hsieh was listed as failing because of his low participation rate in the committee sessions.
Lee's listing might have been the result of a misunderstanding on the part of the Taipei Society. He was penalized for saying that anyone could try to assassinate President Chen Shui-bian (
The society issued a press release later yesterday announcing that it was taking Lee off the list.
In response to the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union's high percentage of failing lawmakers, the union's caucus whip Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) said that constituency service would be a more important reflection of a lawmaker's performance.
"Many lawmakers only signed up when the committee session started and left right away, and they did not necessarily join the discussions in the committee. A report based on the sign-up rate is not objective," Yen said.
"The most important thing is for a lawmaker to secure funds for necessary constituency constructions," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS