Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday urged nominees for legislative speaker and deputy speaker to brief his party’s eight legislators-at-large-elect on their stance on the legislative reform proposals the TPP made earlier this month.
The TPP is hoping that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nominees would visit the TPP’s legislative caucus office and share their views on the proposals, Ko said after meeting with the party caucus at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
SWING VOTE
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The TPP won eight seats in the Jan. 13 elections, and it holds a critical swing vote as neither the DPP, with 51 seats, nor the KMT, with 52 seats, won an absolute majority in the 113-seat legislature.
TPP lawmakers on Jan. 15 made four proposals that they said were aimed at legislative transparency and oversight, and asked the two major parties’ legislative speaker candidates to endorse them.
The proposals called for revising rules on penalties for officials who give false testimony at hearings, prohibiting agencies from blocking lawmaker access to documents, preventing lawmakers from acting on bills that constitute a conflict of interest and requiring the legislative speaker to detail their use of a special stipend.
The TPP appeal had publicly been ignored by the DPP and KMT until Wednesday, when the KMT candidate for speaker, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), its 2020 presidential candidate, wrote on Facebook that many suggestions about reforming the legislature had been made.
“These proposals are sensible and should be taken seriously,” Han wrote.
He said he welcomed and would support bills aimed at pushing reforms and providing effective checks and balances of the ruling party.
Ko yesterday acknowledged criticism that the speaker cannot push reforms on their own through the legislature, but he said the speaker candidates should at least make their stances on the issues clear in front of the TPP caucus.
CAUTION
KMT Secretary-General Justin Huang (黃健庭) said the KMT caucus would need to assess the situation before it decides whether to answer Ko’s call, having heard that the TPP caucus is mulling different strategies for the speakership election.
The KMT may be proceeding cautiously after a failed attempt in November to create a unified KMT-TPP presidential ticket to dislodge the DPP from power, which the KMT blamed on Ko.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun of the DPP who is widely expected to run again said that he would visit any caucus that invites him to elaborate on his ideas and use such opportunities to canvass support.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as