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Ma hails Control Yuan nominees

President Ma Ying-jeou’s five nominees for the Council of Grand Justices are introduced at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. They are, from left to right, Academia Sinica research fellow Chen Hsin-min, National Taipei University (NTU) College of Law Dean Chen Chun-sheng, Supreme Administrative Court Judge Yeh Bai-xiu, National Chengchi University law professor Chen Ming and NTU law professor Huang Mao-jung. PHOTO: CNA

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday nominated former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman John Kuan (關中) as head of the Examination Yuan and former Control Yuan member Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利) as vice president of the Control Yuan.

Ma also nominated three Examination Yuan members and five grand justices. The nomination of Kuan, Chen and the three Examination Yuan members was presented after Ma’s original nominations of Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥) as Examination Yuan president, Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) as Control Yuan vice president and three other nominees affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were rejected.

“The nominees are great choices, and we hope the legislature will approve the nominations,” Ma said when receiving the nominees at the Presidential Office yesteday.

Kuan, 68, had served as vice president of the Examination Yuan. He resigned as the KMT vice chairman after being informed of the nomination, and brushed aside claims that his position was a reward for his campaign efforts during the presidential election.

“If you know what I’ve achieved during the six years in the Examination Yuan and what I’ve contributed to related policies and reforms, you will know that I am an expert in the field,” Kuan said.

When asked about his long-term involvement in KMT affairs, Kuan said he would seek to strike a balance between party politics and the neutrality required of civil servants.

“I believe I will be able to make some contributions to establishing the civil office system with my expertise and experience,” he said.

Chen vowed to assist Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien to clamp down on corruption, and said the Control Yuan should list the “319 shooting” investigation as a priority.

The “319 shooting” refers to the election-eve attack on former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former vice-president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on March 19, 2004.

Chen Jinn-lih, a member of the Amis tribe, will become the first Control Yuan vice president with an Aboriginal background if the Legislative Yuan approves his nomination.

Chang had dropped out of the legislative confirmation vote in July following allegations that he had accepted payments from Polaris Securities Co during his time as president of National Chiao Tung University.

The three Control Yuan nominees are former Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng (葉耀鵬), National Union of Nurses president Yin Jeo-chen (尹祚芊) and Chen Yung-hsiang (陳永祥), a civil engineering professor at National Taiwan University.

The five nominees for the Council of Grand Justices are attorney and National Taiwan University (NTU) law professor Huang Mao-jung (黃茂榮), National Chengchi University law professor Chen Ming (陳敏), Supreme Administrative Court judge Yeh Bai-xiu (葉百修), Academia Sinica researcher Chen Hsin-min (陳新民) and Chen Chun-sheng (陳春生), an honorary professor with National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development.

The Presidential Office will present the nominations to the Legislative Yuan on Friday for approval.

Wang Chien-shien said Ma had made a good choice in nominating Chen Jinn-lih as Control Yuan vice president.

“Not many Aborigines have had the opportunity to work for Yuan-level governmental agencies in the past,” he said. “If he were to become vice president of the Control Yuan, it would be an encouragement to Aborigines and would meet with the expectations of Aboriginal people.”

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus opposed Kuan’s nomination.

DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-­liang (蔡煌瑯) told a press conference that a person like Kuan, who has been deeply involved with the KMT’s affairs, would be incapable of creating fair mechanisms for screening qualified government officials.

Defending Ma’s nomination of Kuan, KMT caucus deputy ­secretary-general Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said Kuan was qualified, given his experience as vice president of the Examination Yuan and minister of the civil service.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan, Flora Wang and Jimmy Chuang
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