Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) tendered his resignation yesterday after 11 of the 29 Control Yuan nominees recommended by the Presidential Office were rejected by the legislature, where the KMT holds a majority.
At press time last night, it had not been confirmed whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) accepted Lin’s resignation. Ma, who is also the KMT chairman, is widely expected to ask Lin to stay in his post for the next round of nominations to fill the 11 slots.
Lin yesterday said that as the “frontline commander,” he was taking responsibility for the unexpected outcome of the vote.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Lin and the KMT caucus blamed outgoing Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊) for the “surprising outcome” on Tuesday night, after it became clear that KMT lawmakers had failed to vote in line with the party’s wishes.
Not only was incoming Control Yuan president Chang Po-ya’s (張博雅) nomination confirmed by only a hair’s breadth, 11 of the 27 candidates for Control Yuan members were voted down by the legislature, despite Ma’s insistence on a “complete passage that leaves no one behind.”
At a press conference held immediately after the votes had been tallied, Lin said that Wang’s accusations of wrongdoing — including accepting gifts — by incumbent members affected the vote for those seeking a second term.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Lin said he respected the outcome of the vote, but regretted that “some of nominees did not have enough time to clear the doubts against them.”
Meanwhile, KMT headquarters laid the blame on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director Fan Chiang Chi-tai (范姜基泰), saying late on Tuesday that the disappointing outcome was a result of the DPP’s “deliberate fabrication of false information about some nominees.”
Chang, the new helmswoman of the Control Yuan, visited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and the two party caucuses yesterday.
Asked about the low support she garnered, she said it was “the product of political wrestling.”
Chang also expressed her concern about the operation of the institution when DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯健銘) called on Ma not to submit a new list of nominees to fill the 11 positions.
She said it would be harder to impeach officials given the current number of members.
Ker said it was a problem that could be easily fixed.
“What matters now is to rebuild the institution’s image. Ma’s next round of nominees would not be the best choice and they would be nominated just for the sake of being nominated,” Ker said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said Ma would have a new list of nominees before the next legislative session starts.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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