President Chen Shui-bian (
The eight nominees are to succeed the eight grand justices whose terms of office will expire at the end of September, including Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (
terms of office
According to the additional articles of the Constitution, eight grand justices, including the president and the vice president of Judicial Yuan who were appointed in 2003, shall serve four years, while the rest of the grand justices shall serve eight years.
The Chinese-language China Times yesterday quoted an anonymous source as saying that incumbent Grand Justice Lai Ying-jaw (
Wang yesterday refused to comment on the rumored candidates for the Judicial Yuan's president and vice president, but said the next president of the Judicial Yuan would be selected from the seven incumbent grand justices whose terms of office expire in 2011. The next vice president would be one of the eight new nominees, according to Wang.
hasty
A group of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday criticized Chen for not giving the legislature sufficient time to review his nominees of grand justices.
KMT legislative caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
new session
"I had heard that the KMT would try to put off the review process as long as possible because they wanted to reserve the nomination for KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Later yesterday, after having a cross-party negotiation meeting, Wang said that legislative caucus whips across party lines had all agreed to review the president's nominees on Sept. 7 when the new session starts.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man