The Central Personnel Administration (CPA) yesterday defended the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) over its recent decision to make six positions in two of its subordinated agencies into politically appointed positions.
CLA Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) recently demanded that the head and deputy of the Bureau of Labor Insurance, the agency’s chief secretary, the head of the Labor Insurance Audit Commission, and the institution’s senior specialist and its chief secretary sign an agreement promising that they would leave their positions if Wang resigned.
The move sparked controversy because it seemed to usurp the authority of the premier, who has the final say on appointees of government agencies that are run like state-owned businesses.
The CPA said that it would respect Wang’s new regulations as the law allows for heads of Cabinet-level departments to use discretionary power to promulgate such measures, but the CPA added that the legality of the rules remained open to discussion.
“Two of the six positions, the heads of the Bureau of Labor Insurance and the Labor Insurance Audit Commission, shall be decided by the premier,” CPA Chief Secretary Chang Nien-chung (張念中) said.
It has been reported that three officials appointed by the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration — He Tuan-fan (賀端蕃), vice president of the Bureau of Labor Insurance, the bureau’s former chief-secretary Chen Hung-ta (陳鴻達) and Tang Yun-teng (唐雲騰), senior specialist at the Labor Insurance Audit Commission, had refused to resign when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government took office. The three were later relieved of their positions.
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
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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