On Tuesday last week, representatives of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus held a news conference at which they declared their opposition to the government’s nominees for Control Yuan members. They asked why the governing Democratic Progressive Party is proposing a full list of nominees for Control Yuan membership even though it has called for abolishing the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan.
The KMT legislators announced that their caucus would boycott President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Control Yuan nominations on the grounds that the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan should be abolished.
However, from a legal point of view, the proposal to abolish these two branches of government is a completely separate matter from the president’s duty to nominate Control Yuan members. Until such time as the Constitution is amended to abolish these two branches, the president must nominate members to the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan in accordance with the Constitution as it is. To do otherwise would be unconstitutional.
Council of Grand Justices Constitutional Interpretation No. 632 says: “The Control Yuan is an integral and indispensable national agency for the normal operations of the constitutional system with its specific power bestowed by the Constitution. Given that the [president], [vice president] and [members] are all legal positions preserved by the Constitution, it behooves all constitutional agencies, as regards their respective duties, to maintain the functional existence and normal operations of the Control Yuan.”
“To ensure the continuous exercise of power by the Control Yuan, prior to the expiration of the term of the incumbent [president], [vice president] and [members], the president should nominate candidates to fill these positions in a timely manner and seek the Legislative Yuan’s consent. The Legislative Yuan, in turn, should exercise such consent power in a timely manner to maintain the normal operations of the Control Yuan,” it says.
“The Constitution does not allow for the event in which either the president or the Legislative Yuan fails to nominate or consent to the nomination of candidates so that the Control Yuan cannot exercise its power or function, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of the constitutional system,” it adds.
That, once more, means that until such time as the Constitution is amended to abolish the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, it would be unconstitutional for the president not to nominate Control Yuan members.
If the KMT really is in favor of abolishing the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, it should act like a responsible opposition party by proposing a draft constitutional amendment.
If the KMT continues to conflate the issues of abolishing the examination and control branches with that of the president’s duty to nominate Control Yuan members, the debate would descend into a shouting match that does nothing constructive for constitutional politics.
Huang Di-ying is a lawyer and chairman of the Taiwan Forever Association.
Translated by Julian Clegg
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS