Some of the younger members of the legislature will be focusing on the economy and education when the Legislative Yuan's first session opens on Feb. 22.
One of the new faces, 33-year-old Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (
"A nation's economic problems cannot be solved by one legislator, but I will use my educational background in business administration to monitor the government's economic policies," she said.
She also promised to devote her time to education issues.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Lin-chun (
"They have no idea which policy to follow," Chiang said, pledging to supervise the government as it makes education-related decisions.
Chiang also promised to be more engaged in economic issues because of "the high unemployment rate in the south."
The youngest lawmaker in the new assembly, 27-year-old KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (
"Yunlin is an agriculture-based county and is more heavily influenced by the nation's economic situation than other cities or counties," said Chang, the daughter of one of the county's more powerful political figures, former county commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
As the only legislator who was born in the 1980s, Chang promised to voice the opinions of her generation in the legislature.
In related news, several civic groups said on Friday that the new legislature should be more transparent and open to help the public better understand its internal operations and inter-party negotiating system.
Ku Chung-hwa (
"More open hearings or debates should be held to help people understand the advantages and disadvantages of legislation," Ku said. "Every interpellation should be televised live and inter-party negotiations must be recorded."
Many groups have complained about the legislature's tendency to resolve contentious proposals behind closed doors, leading to suspicions of deal-making based on the lawmakers' individual interests.
Other basic information, such as bills pending or attendance records, have not always been readily available.
"In the past, the public couldn't get access to the body's internal rules and real-time information on its activities, which is not typical of a true democracy," Ku said.
The legislature is equipped with advanced communication facilities, so it should make a greater effort to boost transparency, said Thomas Peng (彭錦鵬), secretary-general of the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum.
"People also need to know about the attendance of the lawmakers and the voting process within the legislature," he said.
Former DPP legislator Chien Hsi-chieh, chief executive officer of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, said the legislature should set up or rent a TV channel to publicly broadcast every session.
"This will help people supervise our legislature and prevent corruption," Chien said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS