In a surprise move yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) nominated a former university president widely associated with the previous administration to head the Examination Yuan.
Ma tapped former National Chiao Tung University president Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥) to fill the post of the top official in charge of recruiting and managing the country’s civil servants.
Chang is closely connected with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and once served as an adviser to Chen in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election.
Ma also nominated Wu Chin-lin (伍錦霖), a former deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), as vice president, along with 17 other members.
The tenure of the current Examination Yuan members will expire in August.
Ma chose the 19 nominees from 36 hopefuls, who were short-listed by a nomination task force that reviewed 170 recommendations and applications for the positions.
Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) was scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day to introduce the nominees.
The Presidential Office is also expected to announce its list of nominees for the Control Yuan — the country’s top supervisory body tasked with monitoring and arbitrating on matters concerning elected officials and senior civil servants.
The Control Yuan has been left empty since Jan. 31, 2005, as a result of the KMT’s refusal to review the previous president’s list of nominees.
Ma is scheduled to refer the nomination lists to the legislature on Monday for confirmation.
KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said yesterday that up to one-third of KMT legislators would rule out former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) if Ma nominates him for the Control Yuan.
Lee urged the president to “change his list of nominees if necessary,” adding that as far as he knew, at least one-third of KMT legislators opposed Lee’s nomination.
KMT Legislator Lu Chia-chen (盧嘉辰), who competed with Lee for a legislative seat in Taipei County earlier this year, said he was strongly against Lee’s nomination.
“[Lee] has no talent nor character ... I hope President Ma will take my comments into consideration,” he said.
Lu said he would “reluctantly” accept Lee if the president insisted on nominating him, but added that it might damage the trust between the administration and the legislature.
The KMT legislators voiced their opposition after a report in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Wednesday quoted former DPP legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) as saying that the KMT administration had invited Lee to be a member of the Control Yuan.
Former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) was also rumored to be on the list for vice president of the Control Yuan.
KMT Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) said that it was meaningless for the president to nominate people from the pan-green camp simply because he wanted to keep a political balance.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it