Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday rebuffed the KMT caucus’ call for the caucus to elect its own general convener as caucus whip, saying that the person elected by the caucus “would be the deputy executive director of the party’s policy committee,” a position that would be under the leadership of the party-assigned policy committee’s chief executive director, who is conventionally the KMT caucus whip.
The KMT caucus proposed before the KMT chairperson by-election on March 26 to set up a new caucus position of “general convener” to double as the caucus whip, who is to be elected from among KMT lawmakers.
The move by the caucus has been seen as one that aims to hollow out the power of the party headquarters.
Photo: CNA
Hung said during the KMT Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday that she supports the establishment of a new position, but the elected convener would be “ex officio policy committee deputy executive director,” who would thereby be under the leadership of the KMT policy committee’s chief executive director, who doubles as the KMT caucus whip by convention.
“The legislature is composed of elected representatives who have the responsibility to oversee the government. The party’s think tank [the policy committee] would not only be the shadow Cabinet, but also an ammunition depot for the party lawmakers to do their job with better information,” Hung said. “The general convener elected by the caucus would be ex officio deputy executive director of the policy committee, which would bind the party, the think tank and the caucus closely together and maximize the party’s performance in the legislature.”
Hung said the Democratic Progressive Party now holds a majority in the legislature and the presidency, rendering the KMT as “utterly an opposition party.”
“We have only 35 seats left in the legislature and it would rely on their performance for the party to act as a loyal opposition party. The legislature would also be the place for the party to remake its image for the public to trust us,” Hung said.
In the Central Standing Committee meeting, the party-assigned caucus officials were officially endorsed.
KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) remains as the caucus secretary-general, or conventionally the “small” caucus whip, as opposed to the “large” caucus whip, who is the chief executive director of the policy committee.
Jonny Chiang (江啟臣) is the first deputy secretary-general, with Alicia Wang (王育敏), Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Lee Yan-hsiu (李彥秀) being appointed as deputy secretaries-general.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai