President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday announced a list of nominations for Control Yuan posts, with former finance minister Wang Chien-shien tapped to be head of the country’s supreme watchdog.
Ma yesterday said Wang was an upright, capable and good-hearted person whose integrity is well known and who has been devoted to social welfare and the improvement of elementary schooling for years.
Former legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), a renal disease physician-turned politician, was nominated to serve as Wang’s deputy.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Shen was formerly a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but he renounced his DPP membership as he did not see eye to eye with party hardliners on major issues.
The nomination list also included former Control Yuan members like Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) and Chao Chang-ping (趙昌平). Former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator Chien Lin Hui-chun (錢林慧君), and People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Fu-tien (李復甸) were also on the list.
Ma said most of the nominees were selected from among 46 hopefuls who were short-listed by a nomination task force that reviewed more than 400 recommendations and applications for the positions.
He said his choices were made based on the candidates’ professional and moral attributes, rather than on their political affiliation, expressing the hope that his nominees will make the work of Control Yuan effective, as it plays an important role in ensuring the integrity of the country’s civil servants and the quality of Taiwan’s democratization.
Ma is scheduled to refer the nomination lists to the legislature on Monday for the confirmation of Control Yuan and Examination Yuan posts, in accordance with constitutional provisions.
Because of domestic political wrangling, the Control Yuan — the country’s supreme supervisory body tasked with monitoring and arbitrating on matters concerning elected officials and senior civil servants — has been empty since the term of office of previous members expired on Jan. 31, 2005.
The then-opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-controlled legislature repeatedly rejected then-president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) nomination list.
At a separate setting yesterday, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said the legislature would give its approval for the list of Control Yuan nominations proposed by the president next month.
Wang said KMT legislators, who form a majority in the legislature, will support the president’s nominees and will pass the list.
The Legislative Yuan will complete the review of Control Yuan and Examination Yuan heads and members by July 11, he said.
Some KMT legislators, however, challenged Ma’s nomination of Shen and voiced concerns about the low number of PFP members in the list.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said yesterday that former PFP legislators Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) and Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) were both perfect candidates for positions, criticizing Ma for failing to include pan-blue members in the list.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS