Pan-greens urge members of unconstitutional NCC to resign

The pan-green legislative caucus yesterday urged the members of the National Communications Commission (NCC), who have decided to stay in their posts even though the Council of Grand Justices has ruled that the NCC is unconstitutional, to resign. It also asked the Legislative Yuan to amend the law to restore the NCC's legitimacy.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that NCC Chairman Su Yeong-ching (蘇永欽) and other NCC members were "shameless" for refusing to leave office.

Ker said that now that the selection process for members of the NCC had been deemed unconstitutional, the Legislative Yuan should revise the law immediately in order to restore the legitimacy of the NCC.

"NCC members have brazenly said that they will not leave their posts until January 2008. This displays their contempt for the Legislative Yuan. And obviously, they just want to fatten their own pockets. They are shameless," Ker said.

Ker said that KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should apologize to the nation for the unconstitutionality of the NCC because it was the pan-blue camp that had created it.

"Looking back on the legislative process that led to the creation of the NCC, it was the pan-blue camp that wanted NCC members to be chosen on the basis of the proportion of legislative seats held by each political party," Ker said. "We believe Ma should be held responsible for the unconstitutionality of the commission and should apologize to the people."

Echoing the opinion of the DPP legislative caucus, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip David Huang (黃適卓) urged Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to convene cross-party negotiations to revise the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法). The revision should be made a priority in the next legislative session, they said.

Huang said that he sympathized with Su, who he said was a well-respected academic who specialized in constitutional matters, but that by remaining in office Su had overtly violated the ruling made by the Council of Grand Justices.

Huang also urged all the NCC members to resign at once, including Hsieh Chin-nan (謝進男), the member who was recommended by the TSU.

Although the NCC was ruled unconstitutional last Friday, on Monday, the nine members of the NCC came to a unanimous decision that they would stay in office until January 2008, when the legislators who approved their appointments are due to step down.

Their terms would apply, they asserted, regardless of any amendments to the law.