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.
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