The Central Election Commission (CEC) said yesterday it was not authorized to deal with incumbent lawmakers who hold dual citizenship in the legislature and it has yet to decide what to do with those who possessed dual citizenship in previous legislatures.
The meeting comes in the wake of questions over the citizenship status of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) and former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator George Liu (劉寬平), who is now the nation’s representative to Switzerland.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine claimed in March that Lee still holds US citizenship.
Last month the magazine reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had received confirmation from the US government that Lee holds US citizenship. Lee has denied both reports while the ministry said it had never asked the US government to verify Lee’s citizenship status.
Liu — who took up his post in Switzerland in February — said earlier this month that he had filed an application to relinquish his US citizenship at the end of last year but the process was not yet complete.
That raised the question of whether he had violated the Nationality Act (國籍法) by serving as a legislator from 2005 to this year while still a US citizen.
Article 20 of the Nationality Act, which took effect on June 20, 2001, stipulates that foreign citizens are prohibited from holding government office.
While the legislature has launched its own investigation into the foreign citizenship or residency status of lawmakers, the commission met for three hours yesterday to discuss how it would handle the issues. But no conclusion was reached.
“There was an article in the Election and Recall Law of Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法) that stipulated the Central Election Commission could handle cases where legislators or legislators-elect held dual nationality — but the article was removed last November,” commission Chairman Chang Cheng-hsiung (張政雄) told reporters after the meeting.
That means the commission is not empowered to deal with the nationality issue in the current legislature, he said.
“We did decide in the meeting that we do have the authority to deal with dual citizenship cases if they occurred between 2000 to 2008 [when the article was still in effect], but we did not reach a consensus on how to do so,” he said.
Chang said the commission could either invalidate a legislator’s election or revoke their position, but “commission members have differed on which measure to take.”
He said the commission members did not discuss individual cases yesterday, which were “left until the next meeting.”
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
RSS