The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus has set the goal of completing an amendment to the Organic Law of the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法,) by the end of this legislative session.
As the Grand Council of Justices ruled last year that the method used to select National Communications Commission (NCC) members was unconstitutional, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said yesterday the commission was "a source of disorder" and urged its members to resign as soon as possible.
The commission members' terms are scheduled to end in January.
Ker made his remarks yesterday in the wake of the commission's resolution on Friday to fine both TVBS and TVBS-N NT$1 million (US$30,200).
The commission also ordered TVBS general manager Lee Tao (李濤) to resign after the station filmed and broadcast a video in which a gangster threatened to kill his old boss.
The commission's decision was panned by all sides, with some arguing that the punishment was too light, while others criticized it as being too harsh.
Under the organic law, each political party is able to recommend candidates to serve on the commission. The number of candidates each party can recommend is based on the percentage of its representation in the Legislative Yuan.
The Grand Council of Justices had previously asked the Executive Yuan to amend Article Four of the law by Dec. 31 this year.
The pan-green camp has criticized NCC decisions, holding that the commission is unconstitutional.
The amendment proposed by the Cabinet last October, however, had not been put on the legislative agenda by the opposition-controlled Procedure Committee.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said yesterday that the KMT caucus is willing to discuss how to salvage laws that are poorly written.
But Tseng added that now was not the right time to discuss the amendment because the DPP caucus "obviously pushed the amendment out of hatred [toward the KMT]."
Meanwhile, Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-Hsiung (
Hsu emphasized on Saturday night that the report has nothing to do with the commission's ruling on the TVBS gangster story, since the Executive Yuan began its investigation before this year's Lunar New Year holidays.
Speaking about the tension between the NCC and the Executive Yuan, NCC Chairman Su Yeong-chin (
Su said as an independent organization, the commission has participated in meetings held by the Cabinet.
The Executive Yuan, on the other hand, has yet to fill the positions for all the division chiefs in the commission, generating confusion about the commission's operation, he said.
When commenting on the criticism the NCC's ruling on TVBS has generated, Su said the commission understood that the ruling could not possibly please everyone.
However, he added, it is impossible for the commission to disregard the law.
Su further defended the commission's application of Article 29 of the Satellite and Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) in the TVBS case.
He disagreed with the characterization of the article as "the Emperor's Article," as it legally authorizes the commission to take "necessary measures" when regulating media organizations.
Many argued that the term "necessary measures" is too vaguely defined, which allows the commission to take whatever measure it sees fit.
"The article, in specific terms, states that violations include the inappropriate operation of television stations and impairing the rights and interests of subscribers," Su said.
"The station's [TVBS] ethical codes have clearly delineated rules to follow when interviewing criminals, but the station's news quality controllers did not act responsibly in this matter," he said.
Su said the commission is aware that some may feel that its ruling fell short of public expectations, but he said that doling out punishment is not the commission's main responsibility.
In response to the DPP lawmakers' plan to amend the NCC organic law governing how commission members are chosen, Su said that representation based on political parties in the Legislative Yuan remains a better option than the Executive Yuan directly appointing members.
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