Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-at-large-elect Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday announced that he is teaming up with KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to run for legislative speaker and deputy speaker respectively, although Chiang said he would make way for a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislator to become deputy speaker if the party is willing to work with the KMT.
The former Kaohsiung mayor announced his bid for speaker after the KMT emerged as the largest party in the legislature following the legislative elections on Saturday. No party holds a majority.
“We know that electing a president is not enough to create a democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. What we need is people-oriented legislation with a lasting legacy, and lawmakers who review bills and budget plans, and oversee the government’s policy execution,” he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
“I thank Johnny for agreeing to work with me for this fight. We hope to resume the Legislative Yuan’s functions to oversee the government, rather than serving merely as a legislative agency of the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government,” he said.
“However, we are also clear that we cannot fulfill our promises to about 8 million voters who voted for the KMT and the TPP without the two parties forming a united front,” Han said.
“As long as our friends in the TPP are willing to work with us, Legislator Chiang is willing to pass this chance to run for deputy speaker to a TPP legislator, which would facilitate the unity of opposition parties. This is the only way for the DPP to feel the rage of the 60 percent of the voters who did not vote for them,” he said.
TPP legislator-at-large-elect Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) on Facebook reiterated that all speaker candidates should first respond in definitive terms to the appeals for legislative reforms that the TPP presented on Monday.
“We will not negotiate or exchange benefits with any individual candidate in private,” she said.
Asked on Tuesday about being Han’s deputy, TPP legislator-at-large-elect Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that he has “absolutely no interest” in being deputy speaker.
TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) also said that a Han-Huang Kuo-chang ticket is “hard for him to imagine.”
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?), who topped the DPP’s legislator-at-large list, is expected to run for the position again. The DPP has yet to announce who would serve as his deputy or whether it would work with the TPP.
“A DPP-TPP partnership is only possible if the TPP voluntarily comes to us,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said on a talk show on Tuesday, adding that Huang Kuo-chang’s demand that the KMT and the DPP respond to the TPP’s appeals was only for show.
According to the Method for Mutual Election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by Legislators (立法委員互選院長副院長辦法), one-third of the 113-member legislature must be present to form a quorum, and the speaker and deputy speaker must obtain more than half of the votes from the attendees.
If no one gets more than half of the votes in the first round, a second round of votes between the top two candidates would be held, with the person who obtains majority of the votes being elected.
The speaker and deputy speaker could also be re-elected, but more than one-third of all legislators must propose such a motion and more than two-thirds of the attendees must approve the re-election.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old