The PFP legislators asked the Control Yuan yesterday to investigate whether President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) comments Wednesday on the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal in any way interfered with the judicial investigation into the case
During the 2000 presidential election campaign, the KMT filed a lawsuit against PFP Chairman James Soong (
After the election, prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to try case and the KMT dropped the charges.
Last month, the KMT said that the allegations had "all been a result of misunderstanding."
While new evidence may come to light allowing the case to move forward, PFP legislators argued the case is closed in as much as current evidence is not yet part of an investigation and is merely being reviewed internally by the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
"Being the leader of the nation, Chen arbitrarily made remarks that interfered with the judicial investigation and appeared to be a veiled order for justice officials to look unfavorably on [Soong]," the legislators' request said, referring to Chen's statement on Wednesday that the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case remained open.
"Chen's statement appears to be an attempt to smear the nation's opposition leader. ? To safeguard the independence of the judicial system, [the Control Yuan] should investigate whether Chen's remarks were at all appropriate," the request said.
PFP legislative leader Chung Shao-ho (
Control Yuan member Li You-chi (李友吉) accepted the motion, but said the body would have to study constitutional articles before deciding whether to follow it up.
While the legislators cited Article 7 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution -- which states that "the impeachment by the Control Yuan of [a] functionary in the Central or local governments shall be instituted upon the proposal of two or more Members of [the] Control Yuan" -- Li said it is disputable whether the term "public functionary" encompasses the president and vice president.
The PFP legislators said they would file a request to the Council of Grand Justices for interpretation of the article.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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