The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday decided not to nominate any candidates for the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan and vowed to punish any individual accepting a nomination from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
DPP Secretary-General Wang Tuoh (王拓) told reporters after the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday afternoon that the committee had resolved to suspend members who independently accept Ma’s nomination for either of the two government branches, but that they could reclaim their membership once they left the position, he said.
Wang said the decision was made to keep the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan free from political intervention and to maintain their independence. He urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to follow suit.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The KMT has said that it would not make any nominations, but stopped short of specifying whether it would allow individual members to recommend themselves or let others recommend them.
Wang said any DPP members who want to work in the KMT Cabinet must obtain the approval of the party or face disciplinary measures, with the most severe punishment being nullification of membership.
The committee also decided to hold its weekly meetings in different cities and invited members of local charters to attend.
The committee also approved a motion proposed by DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to form three task forces.
The Policy and Think Tank Task Force will be supervised by DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and headed by Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志). Former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) will supervise the Party Reform Task Force and Wang will serve as the convener. The Election and Strategy Task Force will be supervised by Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文), with former chairman of the Council of Agriculture Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) serving as the convener.
In related news, several high-ranking DPP officials assumed office yesterday.
Yao Jen-to (姚人多) and Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) are assistants to Tsai. Yao, Hsiao and Wang will provide their services free of charge. Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) will serve as the party’s deputy secretaries-general.
Others include Lin Chen-wei (林成蔚), director of Department of International Affairs; Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), director of the Department of Youth Development, and Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), DPP spokesman and director of the Department of Culture and Communications.
Wang said he had asked Cheng to lose weight because a spokesman represents the image of the party.
Cheng will get NT$5,000 for each kilogram he loses and must lose 4kg within two months, Wang said, but Cheng will owe him the same amount if he fails to reach the goal.
Two positions still remain vacant: the head of the Department of Women’s Development and that of the Policy Research Committee.
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Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
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