Appointed government officials should concentrate on their own work rather than stump for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) election candidates, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) said yesterday.
Chen said the "stumping mechanism" will only be activated after next month.
The next legislative elections will adopt a new "single-member constituency, two votes" electoral system and the legislature will also be streamlined by halving the number of legislators to 113.
Chen said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has instructed him to study a stumping mechanism for appointed government officials, adding that he will only work on the mechanism in the latter half of next month.
He said the present emphasis for officials will be to push for better administrative performance, as well as to work in tune with the screening of bills in the legislature, adding that good Cabinet performance will be the best campaign tactic for the DPP.
Responding to reports by the United Daily News that the stumping mechanism will be activated after Oct. 10, he said it would be impossible to achieve this so soon.
Chen noted that the legislature began its new session early this month and that the Executive Yuan has to give administrative reports to the Legislative Yuan, while Cabinet officials also have to go to the legislature to answer questions from lawmakers.
In the past, the legislature has gone into recess one month ahead of the elections to allow lawmakers to go back to their constituencies to prepare.
Chen also denied reports that the Executive Yuan has earmarked officials perceived to be good orators -- Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋), Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), Government Information Office Minister Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) and Council of Agriculture Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), to be the main stumping campaigners for DPP candidates.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said