Decreasing the numbers of members of the legislature and increasing the quality of judges are key to the country's constitutional reform, said attendees of a forum aimed at crafting a new vision of a constitutional system yesterday.
"A poll result showing that over 70 percent of respondents endorsed halving the legislative seats of the country convinced us that there is sufficient support for the reduction," Hawang Shiow-duan (
Hawang suggested that the ideal legislature be comprised of 160 to 200 seats.
The country's single nontransferable vote (SNTV) system generates unnecessary political tension as candidates vie for a limited number of party nominations in one constituency, Hawang said. The parliamentary reform, she continued, must include a complete rewriting of parliamentary rules and regulations.
New rules that govern things such as committee formation would improve the nation's confidence in parliamentary discipline, she said.
Hawang proposed that only senior lawmakers be allowed to host legislative committees. Limits on lawmakers taking on other employment during their tenure should be put in place to avoid conflict of interests, she said.
Wellington Koo (
A merit system for the judiciary, including a regular review mechanism, should be established as a substitute for the current lifetime employment, Koo said. An inability to dismiss incompetent members from the judiciary is the result of the lack of such a system.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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