With several lawmakers across party lines deeming her an “inappropriate” choice to lead the Control Yuan, Central Election Commission Chairperson Chang Po-ya (張博雅) is the candidate most likely to fail to make it through the confirmation vote for nominees to the Examination and Control yuans set to be held in the extra legislative session.
The legislature has scheduled a review of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nominees for members of the Examination and Control yuans in the first two weeks of the three-week-long extra session that began on Friday.
Confirmation by the legislature requires a candidate to garner votes from more than half of the 112-seat legislative body and if Chang succeeds in doing this, the 72-year-old would become the first female Control Yuan president in the country’s history.
However, several lawmakers of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which holds 65 seats, said they “have some issues with Chang.”
The main problem dates to September last year, when Chang handled the case of the KMT attempting to strip Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of his party membership, which could have voided his status as a lawmaker and a speaker, with unusual swiftness.
Some pro-Wang KMT lawmakers nicknamed Chang Ma’s “hired thug” in what they say were the president’s failed attempts to oust Wang from office by alleging that the speaker was involved in an undue influence case.
There were many complaints among KMT lawmakers about the nominees list, especially against Chang because of her role in the Ma-Wang political wrestling, said a KMT lawmaker who asked to remain anonymous.
People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said she did not think Chang would make a good Control Yuan president.
Chen said it would be inappropriate for Chang to lead the Control Yuan because she is a member of Chiayi’s Hsu (許) family, an active and influential local faction founded by Chang’s mother, Hsu Shih-hsien (許世賢).
“If Chang becomes the president of the Control Yuan, will she remain neutral and refrain from trying to unfairly influence the year-end elections?” Chen said.
Both Chen and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lai Chen-chang (賴振昌) accused Ma of political patronage in his appointment of candidates.
Chang has been unaffiliated with any political party since she launched her political career as an independent mayor of Chiayi in 1983, as has the Hsu family.
Though she is an independent, Chang was on good terms with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) until 2002, but the relationship went sour after she did not receive enough votes to be confirmed as vice president of the Examination Yuan. Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) won that contest by a slim margin.
Chang blamed the DPP and the TSU for the result, saying that some of their lawmakers broke ranks because she had rejected their attempts at extortion.
Chang did not present evidence to back her claims, which both the DPP and the TSU denied.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said his party would decide whether to demand KMT lawmakers toe the party line on Thursday, in response to the DPP’s call for Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, not to enforce party discipline for the vote.
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) cast doubt on the suitability of Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), former president of Chinese-language China Times, to be a member of the Control Yuan.
Under Wang Mei-yu, the newspaper often ran ads sponsored by the Chinese government and assisted Chinese local governments to place ads in Taiwan, which are both illegal practices, Chiu said.
That Ma nominated Wang Mei-yu and did not retain Control Yuan member Frank Wu (吳豐山), a veteran media professional, on his list of nominees, was an insult to Wu and sent the message that people who do things in China’s favor even though they are illegal will be richly rewarded, Chiu said.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
RSS