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Legislators cold-shoulder Yuan nominees

Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po, front, accompanies Chang Chun-yen, second left, nominee for head of the Examination Yuan, and Wang Chien-shien, left, nominee for president of the Control Yuan, and other nominees for the two government bodies, on a visit to the legislature in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominees for the Control and Examination yuans received a lukewarm response when they visited the legislature yesterday, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus refusing to meet them and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) airing grievances.

Led by Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏), the 29 Control Yuan and 21 Examination Yuan nominees met Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), as well as NPSU and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.

Wang urged the Presidential Office to investigate and answer legislators’ question today whether any nominee possesses a green card or foreign residency, adding that the law prohibits officials from holding dual citizenship.

He said that it was an “important and urgent” matter to fill the Control Yuan because the nation’s top supervisory body, which monitors and arbitrates matters concerning elected officials and civil servants, has been empty since the term of office of the previous members expired on Jan. 31, 2005.

The pan-blue controlled legislature had repeatedly boycotted former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) nominees.

The term of the current Examination Yuan members will expire on Aug. 31. Their successors will be sworn in on Sept. 1. The Examination Yuan is in charge of recruiting and managing the country’s civil servants.

Once the legislature confirms the Control Yuan nominees on July 4 and the Examination Yuan nominees on July 11, Wang said he hoped they would perform their duties in a fair, objective and impartial manner.

It requires the approval of half of the legislators to confirm the nominees. The 113-member legislative chamber has 81 KMT legislators, 27 DPP, three NPSU and two independent lawmakers.

Former National Chiao Tung University president Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥), tapped to head the Examination Yuan, received the cold shoulder from KMT Legislator Hung Shiu-chu (洪秀柱), who had questioned Chang’s political affiliation.

Chang told Hung that “enemies often cross each other’s path.” Hung responded by saying that she would “definitely veto his nomination.”

The KMT caucus has yet to decide whether to let KMT legislators have a free vote.

NPSU Legislator Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤) insinuated that former finance minister Wang Chien-shien, nominated for Control Yuan president, had caused trouble by making improper remarks.

Lin was referring to Wang’s request that Control Yuan nominees refrain from conducting individual visits to the legislature to canvass support.

Lin said it was natural for the Control and Examination yuans to interact with the Legislative Yuan, and there was no need to “pretend someone is morally superior to others.”

He added that he had told Ma to avoid overemphasizing “incorruptibility,” as the more the president mentioned it, the easier it would be for someone to slip up.

Once a person makes a mistake, his opponents would take advantage of it, Lin said.

Former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), nominated for Control Yuan vice president, said yesterday he was prepared to face his confirmation meeting with an open mind amid comments that DPP lawmakers were preparing to grill him during the procedure.

Former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator Chien Lin Hui-chun (錢林慧君), a nominee for the Control Yuan, said she would do her best to convince her critics that she was not an opportunist but a person with principles.

DPP legislators said that the visit to the legislature did not serve any purpose.

“I have no idea why they came here today,” DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said.

“They have yet to respond to our previous complaint about the lack of information on their backgrounds,” Lee said.

Lee made the remarks while the nominees were visiting the legislature.

Lee added that he would remain in the DPP legislative caucus office along with DPP members. If the nominees needed to speak with them, they would be more than happy to talk to them but he did not believe it would help break any ice.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG


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