Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang, a three-term legislator, received 85 votes from the 112 legislators present during yesterday's plenary session, including 80 from the KMT, three from the NPSU, one from the PFP and one from an independent legislator.
Former KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
One anonymous pan-blue camp legislator voted for Wang in the deputy speaker election.
Wang and Tseng failed to win any votes from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus. The 27 DPP legislators all voted for the DPP speaker candidate Chai Trong-rong (
The DPP caucus proposed a last-minute nomination list on Thursday night, entering Chai and Wong in yesterday's elections.
After his inauguration yesterday afternoon, Wang vowed to establish a clean legislature by pushing more amendments to "sunshine bills."
He added that he hoped to make legislative sessions more "transparent," meaning he would hold fewer closed door cross-party negotiation sessions and make the congressional video-on-demand system available to the public.
The system records all open committee meetings and plenary sessions, but at present it can only be accessed from the network within the legislature.
Wang said he hoped to push through an act that would entrust the legislature with investigative powers.
He added that he would exercise his authority to allow legislative police officers to remove legislators who obstruct plenary sessions.
Earlier yesterday at the KMT caucus breakfast, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
In related news, the DPP announced yesterday that legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
"Boycotting will not be the strategy of the DPP legislative caucus," Ker said. "The caucus will basically follow orders from DPP headquarters and presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
DPP legislator Kuo Wen-cheng (郭玟成) said that as the party has only 27 seats in the legislature there is no room for intraparty politics.
"We must stand together at all times or the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] will take control and we will not be able to fight back," he said.
"[The results of the elections for the legislative speaker and vice speaker] show that nobody ignored the caucus' will. It proved the DPP is prepared to unite. I appreciate that," Chai said.
Meanwhile, during a separate press conference at the legislative caucus office yesterday afternoon, Lai blasted the KMT's Lu Chia-chen (
KMT Legislator-elect Lu, who is the incumbent Tucheng Mayor, was absent yesterday as he has decided to postpone registering for a month.
By law, if a mayor cannot finish more than half of his four-year term, a by-election for a new mayor must be held immediately. Lu needs to serve one more month to ensure no by-election will take place.
"It is easy for us to tell how selfish the KMT is," Lai said. "The KMT is the majority in the legislature but it seems that KMT members have no respect for the Constitution."
Lu has said his reason for delaying his registration is that it will help save public funds, as an additional NT$10 million (US$312,500) will have to be spent on a by-election, which would also give other parties a chance at the position.
But, if he stays on for another month, KMT Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (
"As a result and upon request by high-ranking KMT officials, I have decided to complete my legislative registration on March 1," Lu said.
Also see: Transparency in legislature vital: citizen's group
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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