The Control Yuan and Examination Yuan should be abolished as their seats are filled with “fat-cat patronage appointments” for well-paying and cushy jobs, while some members have accepted teaching positions in China, raising national security concerns, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and New Power Party (NPP) lawmakers said yesterday.
Prevailing public opinion is that it is time that both branches of government be abolished, the TPP’s five lawmakers said.
The life-long goal of many people in Taiwan’s academic circles is to be appointed to the Examination Yuan, “because it is such a cushy job without much to do, and by law members enjoy a very high salary commensurate with the head of a government ministry,” TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The current extraordinary legislative session is reviewing the nominations for 11 seats on the Examination Yuan, in charge of administering civil service examinations, and for 27 seats on the Control Yuan, the government’s watchdog body.
The TPP held a brief protest inside and outside the main legislative chamber, during which TPP caucus whip Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) raised the issue of some Examination Yuan members accepting outside work, including lecturing posts in China.
“Many people are disgusted by the fact that Examination Yuan members earn outside income, even though their annual salary is NT$2.7 million [US$91,198], and if promoted to the board of examiners, members receive an extra NT$700,000 on top of their salaries,” Lai said.
“Some Examination Yuan members have accepted visiting professor or guest lecturer posts at universities in China. They are also known to receive other extra income from taking on other part-time academic work,” Lai said. “This is why most people see the seats as ‘fat-cat patronage appointments’ by which the ruling party can reward its friends.”
NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said that her party’s stance was very clear: both Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan should be abolished.
“However, before that can be done, we will scrutinize the nomination process very carefully, to see if the nominees are qualified,” she said.
NPP lawmakers said they were angry that none of the nominees had responded to the party’s questionnaire about specific cases involving the Examination Yuan’s authority.Those who had not responded included Examination Yuan president nominee Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) and vice president nominee Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲).
Their refusals were outrageous, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said.
“We had sent out the questionnaire a month ago, and it only had seven questions, the most important of which was the nominees’ opinion on discovering people taking a civil service exam had cheated,” Chiu said.
“The questionnaire is not so tough... Our society has many impoverished people, but Examination Yuan members enjoy very high salaries and good perks, all paid for by the taxpayers. By not responding to the questionnaire, they are showing their disregard of the taxpayers who are pay their salary,” Chiu said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data