The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) failed to elect its first-ever caucus general convener after the two candidates, Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) and Apollo Chen (陳學聖), tied in yesterday’s vote.
The two candidates received 14 votes each from 29 KMT lawmakers who showed up for the election, with one invalid vote and six lawmakers abstaining.
KMT Central Policy Committee chief executive director Alex Tsai (蔡正元), who presided over the election, said KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) has high expectations for the improvement of autonomy within the party caucus and of its “combative power,” adding that while in the past the work of the KMT caucus whip had been shared by the committee chief director — a position that had been doubled by a lawmaker until Tsai — and the caucus secretary-general, with an elected general convener, the autonomy of the caucus would be improved.
Hung last month said that the person elected by the caucus “would be the deputy executive director of the party’s Central Policy Committee,” a position that would be under the leadership of the party-assigned policy committee’s chief executive director.
According to a report by the Chinese-language United Daily News earlier this week, Sufin said that he would not take the position of committee deputy executive director if elected, but would coordinate with Tsai.
“We are still a team; it would not signify an opposing stance against the party headquarters,” he said.
According to local media, party caucus secretary-general Lin Te-fu (林德福) had Hung’s support before he said that he would not run for general convener on Wednesday, the last day of the registration for candidacy.
The United Daily News cited an unnamed KMT lawmaker as saying that with Lin opting out, Tsai’s influence would be kept outside of the caucus.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS