Lawmakers across party lines drew up a non-binding resolution to help local elected officials, as many in the newly designated municipalities face losing their job should the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendments to acts governing local administrations clear the legislature.
With the changes, the political subdivisions of the affected local governments and the number of local representatives will also change.
Under the Executive Yuan’s proposed amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) and the draft administrative zoning act (行政區劃法), heads of political subdivisions under a municipality will be designated by its mayor, instead of being elected by a popular vote and overseen by an elected representative council.
The proposal states that the number of city councilors in the upgraded Taipei County would be increased by one. The number of city councilors in the merged Taichung municipality would be reduced from 103 to 63, while those in the merged Kaohsiung municipality would be cut from 98 to 66 and in the merged Tainan municipality from 91 to 57.
The proposals also state that the Executive Yuan would be entitled to demarcate the boundaries of council constituencies.
The Executive Yuan’s version of the proposed amendment, however, was opposed by lawmakers at the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday.
Instead, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), as well as Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), William Lai (賴清德) and Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) jointly proposed a motion more favorable to the local government chiefs.
They suggested the number of city councilors remain the same as the total seats of combined councils and that heads of political subdivisions in a municipality would be chosen from incumbent township or village chiefs and local representatives.
The lawmakers also suggested that the incumbent councilors should be consulted before the government decides on the new demarcation of boundaries.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS