The Cabinet on Thursday adopted a revision to the Public Television Act (公共電視法) lowering the threshold for candidates for the Public Television Service (PTS) board to pass an appointment review, while the opposition questioned whether the amendment was designed to reduce the influence of the opposition when board members are appointed.
Currently, a candidate must win the approval of three-quarters of the members of a review committee.
However, the Cabinet’s proposed amendment would lower the threshold to half of the members of the committee, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
Review committee members are recommended by political parties according to the number of seats each party has in the legislature, Kuan said.
A candidate must therefore win cross-party support to be appointed to the board, as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) only has 56.7 percent of the seats in the legislature.
However, the proposed change would make it much easier for the KMT to control the appointment of board members, she said. Kuan said the move was designed to cut down diversity, putting the PTS board under the tight control of the KMT.
The proposed revision may trigger a battle between political parties on the legislative floor when it is sent to the legislature for review, Kuan said.
Under the current system, a review committee made up of 11 to 15 members recommended by political parties has the power to select candidates nominated by the Cabinet.
The proposed amendment seeks not only to lower the threshold for being appointed, but also to cut the number of board directors from between 17 and 21 to between 13 and 17, with one seat reserved for Aborigines, one for Hakka and another for a PTS employee.
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