Politicians from across party lines yesterday questioned a decision to allow Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to delay taking up her role as Taipei deputy mayor until February, which would avoid a by-election for her legislative seat.
Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who is to start as Taipei mayor today, on Friday said that Lin, his election campaign manager, would be one of his deputy mayors, as she is familiar with the municipal administration.
Lin in a news release on Friday said that she has several important issues to handle in this legislative session, so she cannot immediately resign as a lawmaker.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
However, Chiang has approved her request to report for duty in February, she said.
Asked if Lin’s late arrival might affect the city government’s operations, Chiang said that former Kaohsiung deputy mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川), his other deputy, has a lot of experience, so his new administration should run smoothly.
However, if Lin resigns as a lawmaker in February, the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) stipulates that her empty seat would not need to be filled immediately, as there would be less than one year remaining in her term.
Citing Citizen Congress Watch, KMT spokeswoman Chiang I-chen (江怡臻) yesterday said that a legislative by-election on average costs the central government about NT$16 million (US$520,969), so Chiang’s arrangement for Lin would avoid a public disturbance and save taxpayers’ money.
However, DPP member Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳), who is to take her seat as a Taipei city councilor today, wrote on Facebook that the KMT is scrambling for power and profit.
The actions of Lin and Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) — who was re-elected on Nov. 26, but is now running in a legislative by-election in Taipei on Jan. 8 — mean that Taipei will be without a deputy mayor for a month and a Daan District (大安) legislator for a year, Yen wrote.
The KMT is abandoning people because it craves power, she wrote, adding that it appears that the KMT’s promises to voters are mere slogans.
Taipei City Councilor Chung Pei-chun (鍾沛君) of the KMT on Friday told a political talk show that Chiang’s team originally planned to let Lee lead the city’s departments while Lin completed her legislative term.
That would have been a better arrangement, Chung said.
Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) of the KMT yesterday said that many city residents and city councilors in the party are opposed to the February arrangement.
Their plan would “take points off” the KMT and Chiang, as it might be seen as an arrogant move, Chin said.
Lin should immediately resign and take on the deputy mayor role for the good of the KMT, she said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS