The Executive Yuan yesterday said its appointment of new directors to the Central Election Commission was legal, following criticism that the appointment was made without being discussed in a formal Cabinet meeting.
The Executive Yuan on Wednesday submitted a request to the Legislative Yuan to appoint National Central University law professor Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) and Taichung Legal Affairs Bureau Director Chen Chao-chien (陳朝建) as the commission’s new chairman and vice chairman respectively.
The request was submitted three months before the incumbent chairman’s and vice chairman’s terms end on Nov. 3. However, the request was met with criticism as it was submitted to the legislature without being discussed in a Cabinet meeting, raising concerns that the Cabinet was acting outside the law.
According to the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Yuan (行政院會議議事規則), Cabinet decisions that require legislative approval must first be passed in an Executive Yuan meeting before being submitted to the Legislative Yuan.
Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that only draft laws, budget proposals and international agreements have to be passed in Cabinet meetings before submission; the rule does not apply to the appointment of officials to independent government agencies.
“It has been a long-time practice that the appointment of independent agency officials, such as those of the National Communications Commission, the Fair Trade Commission and the Central Election Commission, does not have to be discussed in Executive Yuan meetings,” Hsu said.
Previously, appointments to the agencies were approved by the premier without being deliberated in a Cabinet meeting, he said.
“The media might ask if we could discuss and approve the appointments in a meeting. We certainly can, but it is not legally required,” he said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has criticized the appointment of Chen In-chin for his perceived pro-Democratic Progressive Party bent, saying that this might affect a planned restructuring of the nation’s electoral districts.
The electoral districts are rezoned every 10 years according to population changes, and according to the commission’s estimates, Kaohsiung and Pingtung might each lose a legislative seat, while Tainan and Hsinchu would each gain one.
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
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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