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 has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS