A KMT lawmaker yesterday branded the party's mobilization policy "improper" after he disobeyed a caucus order at Friday's legislative assembly.
"The party caucus should not impose political ideology upon lawmakers for issues that should be above politics, such as the confirmation date for grand-justice nominees," Chen Hung-chang (
On Friday, Chen refused to vote with his party for a postponement on the confirmation date for nominees. He sided with pan-green legislators by voting for the Legislative Yuan to finish the confirmation by extended session.
"I had made my position clear against the order to caucus whip Liu Cheng-hung (
"The KMT is not a party in which one person alone has the say. The mobilization politicized the legislative jurisdiction," he said.
Despite the vote orders issued by the KMT and PFP, four pan-blue lawmakers -- one from the PFP and three from the KMT -- were absent from the legislative showdown.
Chen, meanwhile, ignored his caucus' instructions when the legislative assembly dealt with the resolution requiring state-owned companies to withdraw their investment from the Taiwan High Speed Railway. He voted no to the resolution.
"The high speed railway project was started in the previous KMT government. I regret the oppositions' stance, which will plunge the construction project into financial difficulty if approved," Chen said. Chen's opinion was met with hostility by the KMT caucus. Party whip Liu said that all mobilization violators will face a disciplinary review after the vote.
The other two KMT absentees were Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮) and Tseng Tsai Mei-tso (曾蔡美佐) who both said they were unable to make the vote.
As for Legislator Yang Fumei (
Chung blasted Chen's decision to vote against his party.
"The lawmaker should carry out his legislative power in accordance with the fact that he is a member of the KMT and he must follow the caucus' decision since the caucus represents the majority opinion," the PFP whip said.
Chung disagreed with Chen's view that the justice review was above the party's political ideology.
"The political chaos within the country demonstrates that no disputes can be resolved without ideological rivalry," he said.
Another controversy relating to the mobilization order took place on Wednesday when members of the Home and Nations Committee engaged in a review of the controversial referendum draft bill.
The review ended with a surprise first reading declared by the convener Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), a TSU lawmaker whose party is devoted to promoting the referendum legislation.
Chen said he announced the approval in accordance with the legislative procedure law, stipulating that the committee may announce the wrap up of the first examination and pass unfinished draft articles to the second round review at the legislative assembly when members of the committee requested to adjourn the meeting ahead of time.
"I carried out a convener's duty and coped with the request from seven opposition lawmakers to dissolve the meeting by a vote. The opposition have no need to question about the vote credibility since it was the legislative staff, not me, who counted the votes," Chen said.
The opposition alliance, with a majority of 11 seats on the committee, unexpectedly submitted to the vote.
Chen said the absence of five opposition lawmakers' from the review gave the pan-greens an advantage.
The forming of a pan-blue alliance for next year's presidential election has given the opposition a numerical edge of 112 seats at the legislature. The pan-greens have a total of 101 seats.
Chen said there was pressure within his party as well as in the pan-green parties concerning mobilization orders.
"The numerical confrontation has worsened the legislative efficiency in this session after the pan-blue alliance applied the tactic to the Procedure Committee and successfully boycotted a number of bills presented by the DPP and TSU," he said.
Three passengers and the assailant were reportedly injured in a knife attack on the Taichung MRT on Tuesday. The Rapid Transit Brigade of the Taichung Police Department is still investigating the incident, with no motive immediately apparent. Taichung Police Commissioner Lee Wen-chang (李文章) said that at least four people were injured in the attack, and the suspect has been taken into custody. The incident occurred at about 11:15am on a train car near Taichung City Hall Station. Witnesses reported seeing a man attacking others with a knife, while other passengers tried to grab his hair or fend him off with umbrellas. Three people were reportedly
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
While it is common to see bumper stickers informing other drivers about important information, such as “baby on board” or “rookie driver,” some motorist in Taiwan are using creative statements to warn other drivers to keep a safe distance to avoid a collision. A photograph recently circulating on the Internet showed a van in Changhua City with a bumper sticker saying that the driver received their license after taking the test three times, so it is dangerous to drive close to the vehicle. The person who took the photograph said all vehicles behind the van appeared to “subconsciously” maintaining a safe distance. Some
Taipei police on Saturday arrested 24 female Thai tourists on suspicion of working as hostesses and engaging in illegal activities at an underground bar in Zhongshan District (中山), the distict’s police precinct said in a statement yesterday. The police also arrested five other people involved in the operation, including the 29-year-old bar owner surnamed Chiang (蔣), and 17 customers, the statement said. The 24 Thai women were fined an undisclosed amount in accordance with the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) by the police and transferred to a National Immigration Agency (NIA) special brigade in Taipei for repatriation to Thailand. The cases of