The legislature yesterday elected new conveners to head its eight committees, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus winning nine seats and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus securing seven.
Under the Legislative Committee Organization Act (立法院各委員會組織法), each committee is to elect two conveners.
Apart from the Education and Culture Committee, for which the DPP secured both seats, the DPP and the KMT lawmakers secured one seat each on the other committees.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) was elected convener of the Education and Culture Committeeby a vote, while DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) claimed the second seat over KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) after drawing lots.
The electoral process for the Transportation Committee, the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee and the Finance Committee closely shadowed that of the Education and Culture Committee, with the DPP caucus winning the first seats by vote, but losing the other seat to the KMT after drawing lots.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) are to take turns presiding over the Transportation Committee; DPP Legislator Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) and KMT Legislator Chen Yi-min (陳宜民) are to be in charge of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee; and DPP Legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋) and KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) are to chair the Finance Committee.
The legislators on the Economics Committee and the Foreign and National Defense Committee — which are to undertake reviews of planned pension cuts for military retirees during the ongoing session — resolved to choose their conveners through nomination.
DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) and KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) were nominated as conveners for the Defense Committee, while DPP Legislator Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) and KMT Legislator Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) are to preside over the Economics Committee.
DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) and KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) received the highest and second-highest number votes in the election for the Judiciary and Organic Laws Committee and are to take turns presiding over the committee’s meetings.
DPP Legislator Hung Tsung-yi (洪宗熠) and KMT Legislator Yang Chen-wu (楊鎮浯) were elected Internal Administration Committee conveners.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at