After three rounds of voting at the presidium of the National Assembly, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative Yeh Chun-jung (
Given that both the DPP and the KMT recommended their own candidates for the position of secretary-general of the National Assembly and controlled a nearly equal number of votes in the presidium, filling the post of secretary-general required three rounds of voting.
VOTING
The 11-member presidium has five representatives from the DPP, four from the KMT, one from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and one from the People First Party (PFP), in accordance to the percentage of seats that each party obtained in the National Assembly.
The pan-green camp could have secured the post of secretary-general with one round of voting because of its majority of six delegates in the presidium, but TSU presidium member Annie Lee (
The PFP also wanted to have a forum on constitutional issues to voice their stance during the National Assembly meeting, and asked the KMT to vote for PFP candidate Edward Chen (
DELAYS
Because of the TSU and PFP's insistence, the first two rounds of voting did not produce a winner, because none of the candidates obtained more than six ballots.
Lee casted an invalid ballot during the first and second voting rounds, but then changed her attitude and voted for Yeh during the third round of voting, after discussions with DPP delegates.
Yeh took the post of secretary-general, defeating the KMT candidate, Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄), 6 to 5.
The presidium will hold a meeting to discuss the schedule and the agenda of the assembly this afternoon at 2pm.
The DPP hopes the agenda can be shortened to one week and convene the first session before Friday.
The KMT prefers a plan put forward by the Legislative Yuan, and wants the assembly to open on June 7 and close on June 10.
NO DELAYS
As for the TSU and PFP's demand of setting up a forum on constitutional issues, the president of the presidium, DPP delegate Yeh Chu-lan (
The TSU and the PFP requested more than the constitutional forum. The two small parties argued that the low turnout for the National Assembly elections held on May 14 was too low to represent public opinion.
TSU caucus whip Lo Chih-ming (
The TSU and the PFP also oppose the DPP and the KMT's motion that a second vote is needed if an amendment is not passed during the first round of voting, saying the motion is unconstitutional and that they will definitely boycott it.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS