The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday expressed regret after questions it posed to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) nominees for the Control Yuan went unanswered.
The legislature is expected to vote on Friday on whether to approve the nominations.
The NPP said it had sent questions to the nominees via the Presidential Office and sought a reply by Thursday last week, but as of yesterday it still had not received a response.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Does the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] feel no obligation to respond given that it has a legislative majority?” NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) asked.
The NPP would see how the nominees respond to questions on Friday before deciding whether to back their appointments, Chiu said.
Some who have been nominated for a second time had answered questions prior to their first appointment, but not this time, NPP Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said.
One of the questions asked the nominees if they believe that Control Yuan members should be able to investigate cases that have already been decided by the courts, while another asked if they support the abolition of the Control Yuan or a reduction in the number of its members, Chen said.
The NPP hopes that the nominees, if appointed, would tackle the issue of illegal factories on farmland and hills, Chen said, adding that such factories should be dismantled and government bodies in charge of the issue strictly supervised.
In a case involving improperly issued mining permits for Asia Cement Corp, the Control Yuan failed to take action against officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林) Office, despite accusations against them.
Meanwhile, the legislature yesterday invited academics to speak at a public hearing on the nominees, including former grand justice Hsu Yu-hsiu (許玉秀), who was recommended by the NPP; professor Lin Chao-chun (林超駿), who was recommended by the Taiwan People’s Party; professors Hsieh Chen-yu (謝政諭) and Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂), and lawyer Chang Chun-lun (張鈞綸), who were recommended by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT); and professor Yang Chia-ling (楊佳羚), associate professors Liu Chao-lung (劉兆隆) and Chou Chung-hsien (周忠憲), and Covenants Watch chief executive officer Huang Yi-bee (黃怡碧), who were recommended by the DPP.
A supervisory committee of eight members from each caucus attended the hearing, but KMT Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信) was the only committee member present when Lin Teng-yao was making his comment, prompting the latter to accuse the legislature of “treating academics like monkeys and playing with them.”
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), who presided over the hearing, said that the hearing was being broadcast online and that it could be watched from anywhere in Taiwan.
Hsu said that a delay of discussions over judicial reform until after the hearing was taking the steam out of the movement.
Control Yuan members “should be braver” in the face of the conflict between judicial and supervisory authorities, Hsu said.
Hsieh said that the 27 nominees were underqualified.
None of them had studied public policy and only five had legal backgrounds, Hsieh said.
The nominees were “unbalanced and overly favored social benefits and social movements,” he said, adding that they were politically biased toward the DPP.
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