The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) once again dominated the elections for legislative committee heads yesterday, taking 14 out of the 16 seats on the eight standing committees.
But the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) managed to grab two seats on two committees by drawing lots with KMT lawmakers.
The DPP had difficulty securing more than one seat in the past two elections of the seventh legislature as it only has 27 places among the legislature’s 117 seats.
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) and KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) will head the Internal Administration Committee for the fall legislative session.
Chiu was able to join the draw against Chang and KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) after KMT Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭) “accidentally” voted for himself rather than for Wu as previously arranged by the KMT caucus.
Chiu said she was surprised to win the seat, adding that this was an opportunity for the DPP to handle cross-strait affairs and post-Typhoon Morakot reconstruction in an appropriate manner.
DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩) and KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) will lead the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee after KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), who won the same number of votes as Chen and Ho, yielded to Ho.
KMT caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said he was surprised the DPP took two seats because the caucus had finalized the candidates for committee heads after coordination among KMT legislators.
The DPP had urged the KMT to yield four seats to the DPP, but the KMT declined, saying the KMT needed to handle three major budget proposals and a proposed amendment related to government reorganization during this session.
KMT legislators Justin Chou (周守訓) and Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) will be responsible for arranging the agenda for the Foreign and National Defense Committee while KMT lawmakers Lee Fu-hsing (李復興) and Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄) will be in charge of the Economics Committee.
The Finance Committee will be headed by KMT legislators Alex Fai (費鴻泰) and Lin Te-fu (林德福), while the Education and Culture Committee will be led by KMT legislators Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and Kuo Su-chun (郭素春).
The seats of the heads of the Transportation Committee went to KMT legislators Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) and Yang Li-huan (楊麗環) while KMT legislators Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) and Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) won the seats for the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS