President Chen Shui-bian (
Wang, who spoke to Chen on Sunday, has confirmed that senior presidential adviser Yao Chia-wen (
The speaker predicted that some candidates would have difficulty winning approval from the politically divided legislature, where opposition lawmakers have cast doubt over Yao's qualifications.
The DPP's legislative caucus, which has been asked to help reduce any potential resistance, portrayed the task as an uphill struggle, as the ruling party controls only 69 seats in the 225-seat Legislative Yuan. All 27 nominees must obtain majority consent from the legislature before taking office.
In an interview with reporters, Wang said the Presidential Office would turn over the list of candidates for approval today.
The KMT heavyweight denied being urged to "grease the wheels" during the confirmation process, which he added would take place on May 31 at the earliest.
The speaker said he would seek a resumption of cross-party talks that have been on hold for weeks. Legislative leaders from the KMT and the PFP have refused to sit at the negotiating table in protest against the failure of certain Cabinet officials to answer legislative inquiries.
Wang, who just returned from a trip to the nation's Latin American allies on Chen's behalf, forecast that Yao would be given a rough ride and that as a speaker, he would remain neutral on the matter.
Yao was a DPP chairman and a legislator before taking up his present post as a senior adviser to the president.
The 64-year-old was jailed for six years in 1979 for taking part in the pro-democracy movement.
Before the party altered its charter to say that when the DPP is in power, the head of state would be its chairman, Yao indicated an interest in the DPP chairmanship.
PFP legislative whip Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said that many of her colleagues find Yao unacceptable, given his deep involvement in partisan and pro-independence activities.
She argued that the Examination Yuan, which is responsible for the civil service and all examination-related matters, should be run by someone without strong political ties.
Fellow PGP lawmaker Diane Lee (李慶安) agreed and estimated that Chang, on the other hand, would sail through confirmation hearings, as the former interior minister has no political affiliations.
"It appears to me that Yao is not the best candidate available, considering his professional training and personal character," she said, adding that the PFP caucus expects to again join forces with the main opposition KMT on the matter.
Yao earned a master's degree in law from National Taiwan University. Since reports of his nomination came to light, there have been allegations that he has been involved in an extramarital relationship.
Yesterday, his lawmaker wife, Chou Ching-yu (
Ker Chien-ming (
The tiny party is mulling withholding its 13 votes unless the DPP agrees to back its referendum bill.
If Yao or any candidate fails to pass confirmation, the president will have to find new nominees in line with the Constitution.
To avoid that, he has set up a task force consisting of senior DPP officials, to woo a dozen independent lawmakers.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS