The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) intends to honor its promise of allowing two lawmakers to share one seat in the Legislative Yuan and will officially announce the swap at the end of the month, the party said.
The party adopted the system of allowing two people to share one legislative seat after the slogan “One vote per family to help the TSU” helped the party garner 8.9 percent of the vote in the 2012 combined elections, TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said.
With only two years allotted to each legislator, the party would be able send six members to the legislature, Lin said, adding that as a small party the TSU has limited resources and the system would allow the party to utilize those resources most efficiently.
Lin stepped down as a lawmaker and was replaced by former Greater Kaohsiung councilor Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) in August last year.
The TSU’s two other legislators, Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) and Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲), will finish their two-year terms at the end of the month, Lin said.
Their seats will go to National Taipei College of Business dean Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) and the party’s organization department deputy director Chou Ni-an (周倪安), Lin said, adding that Hsu and Huang would be assuming the position of heads of the TSU Policy Research Committee and the Judiciary Reform Committee respectively.
Lin added that it was possible that both would run in this year’s elections.
Citing its resistance to allowing US beef containing traces of ractopamine to enter the market and its disapproval of the hikes in fuel and electricity prices, Lin said the TSU had accomplished a lot in the past two years, despite its minority presence in the legislature.
Lin added that by supporting the impeachment of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and opposing the completion of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao Dictrict (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and the proposed cross-strait service trade agreement, the TSU had garnered quite a bit of public support.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS