Eleven Control Yuan candidates nominated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), from a list of 29 that has been described by opposition parties as “the worst roster in history,” were voted down by the legislature yesterday.
The vote took place after a blockade by opposition parties in the early morning and subsequent cross-party negotiation led the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to agree not to enforce party discipline on how its legislators voted.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmakers arrived on the legislature’s floor an hour before the meeting started and occupied the legislative speaker’s podium, protesting the ruling party’s resolution made on Monday, despite dissent from some KMT members, that the party as a whole would “give full support to all of the nominees.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
During the blockade, the opposition also accused some of the nominees of influence-peddling before the start of the second legislative extraordinary session that had been scheduled to execute the confirmation vote.
The KMT caucus had concluded on Monday that party discipline would be used if any of its legislators voted otherwise, and refused to promise not to supervise how its legislators voted by requiring them to show their marked ballots.
The opposition’s blockade did not end until just before noon yesterday, when the ruling party backed down and agreed to have the voting booths and boxes placed in a way that the voters would not be monitored. The KMT also agreed to allow the legislators to vote one by one, rather than in groups.
Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and Sun Ta-chuan’s (孫大川) nominations were approved for the positions of president and vice-president of the Control Yuan respectively.
Chang received 57 yes votes, 36 no votes and 14 invalid votes, while Sun had 60 yes votes, 33 no votes and 14 invalid votes.
The two are to begin their six-year terms on Friday.
The legislature conducted the confirmation vote for the rest of the nominees in the afternoon. After hours of voting and counting, it was revealed that 11 had failed to secure the required 57 votes, which is one more vote than half of the total 112 legislative seats.
Those who were voted down include former Food and Drug Administration director-general Kang Jaw-jou (康照洲), to whom the Control Yuan had issued at least 19 corrective measures concerning food safety during his term as head of the agency, former Public Construction Commission minister Fan Liang-shiow (范良銹), who had also several times been issued corrective directives by the Control Yuan, and Shih Hung-chih (施鴻志), a retired professor of urban planning with a record of handling controversial land expropriations.
National Medical University professor Wang Hui-po (王惠珀), Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) and Yu Teng-fang (余騰芳), who were not in the recommendation list at first, or voted out by the recommendation team then chosen by the president, were among the ousted.
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
‘NOTHING NEW’: China should not use Tsai Ing-wen’s transits through the US as a pretext to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait, a Washington official said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday. Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel