Thu, Feb 23, 2006 page2

• NCC holds first meeting, elects three top officials

  MEDIA WATCHDOG The National Communications Commission chose a KMT-backed chairman, who will be backed up by vice chairs nominated by the DPP and PFP

  • By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER
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  The much-anticipated National Communications Commission (NCC) was officially launched yesterday, with its nine members unanimously choosing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-backed Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) as its chair.

  The first NCC meeting, mandated by law, also elected Shyr Shry-hau (石世豪) and Liu Zong-de (劉宗德) as vice chairs. They were recommended by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and People First Party respectively.

  Su said after the election that both the chairman and two vice chairmen were elected by the NCC members themselves.

  Each position was put to the vote once, and the results were finalized after three elections in total. All three officials were approved by the NCC members without any opposition, Su said.

  He denied that the commission members had struck a deal on the election beforehand, adding that the three top officials represent different parties, which fulfils the law's requirement for diversity in the NCC.

  The meeting yesterday revealed neither a specific plan nor a timetable for what the commission attempts to accomplish this year.

  "The most important thing right now [to the commission] is to win the trust of the people," Su said.

  The legislature approved the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員組織法) last year. The law requires the Executive Yuan to nominate 13 commission members for approval by the Legislative Yuan.

  Except for Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津), who withdrew his name two days after being recommended by the DPP, all other NCC nominees were approved.

  Last week, three of the nominees -- Chen Ming-syan (陳銘憲), Lin Yi-bing (林一平) and Weng Hsiu-chi (翁秀琪) -- withdrew from the election, saying that the decision-making process had been dominated by politics. Chen and Weng were nominated by the Executive Yuan, whereas Lin was recommended by the KMT.

  For the remaining nine commission members, seven are backed by the KMT, and one each by the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union. In terms of their expertise, three commission members are representatives from the media, four are legal experts, one is a telecommunications professional and one is a consumer advocate.

  In response to concern that the composition of the NCC could allow party politics to interfere with the operation of administrative agencies, Su said yesterday that the NCC is an independent body responsible for executing the nation's media laws.

  It is also charged with the mission of regulating the telecommunications, information and broadcasting sectors, he said.

  Su added that the commission cannot propose legislation, but could offer suggestions independent of both the Executive Yuan and the parliament.

  He said that the lack of representation from the telecommunications industry would not be an issue.

  In addition to the commission members, the NCC will recruit an additional 500 to 700 employees from the ranks of former employees of the broadcasting division of the Government Information Office and the Directorate-General of Telecommunications.
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