Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) yesterday expressed qualified support for relocating the Legislative Yuan from Taipei to Taichung.
You made the remarks after visiting the city at the head of a delegation of lawmakers.
The legislature started its quest for a new seat in 1991 as complaints emerged regarding the building’s small size, aging structure and out-of-code construction, he said, adding that these issues remain unresolved.
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
Taichung’s central location and its past as the center of Taiwanese culture commend it as a new location for the legislature, You said.
“I know Taichung well from when I was a member of the Provincial Consultative Council and attended meetings in Wufeng District (霧峰), studied at Tunghai University and served on the Chenggong Ling (成功嶺) [military] base,” he said.
The Legislative Yuan formed an advisory committee to explore cities for a new site and a special committee would be set up to make the selection, You said.
“I emphasize that any decision arrived at will be one that all lawmakers can accept as a group,” he said.
“It is my hope that a new location for the Legislative Yuan will be selected before the end of my term [as legislative speaker] and I have no doubt that Taichung will be a front-runner,” You added.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said that the city “absolutely welcomes and makes a bid for” the legislature to settle in her city.
“Taichung is the best choice in terms of having transportation, balancing regional development and reducing the stress on Taipei,” she said.
Taichung has at least six sites that could serve as a location for the legislature, including the 7.83-hectare former Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council building, a 10.43-hectare former army depot in Wuri District (烏日) and a 250-hectare former military base in Chenggong Ling, she said.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) — who is the Democratic Progressive Party’s nominee to run for Taichung mayor in November — said he agrees with Lu: Taichung is the best place for the Legislative Yuan.
Moving the legislature out of Taipei would benefit lawmakers and the policy on balancing regional development, KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said, adding that his party caucus prefers for Taichung to be the new site.
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