The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) “rigged” a vote on whether to review its proposed pension reform by allegedly having someone impersonate an absent lawmaker, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday.
The DPP said that the session records showed KMT Legislator Sasuyu Ruljuwan (盧縣一) had not signed in, but participated during the first vote — on the pension reform plan — while abstaining from the second and third votes.
Ruljuwan confirmed he was in China, saying that he was representing indigenous Taiwanese and visiting one of China’s ethnic minorities.
Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The DPP caucus yesterday held a news conference calling for the KMT caucus to respond to the matter.
The act fits the definition of forging a signature and contravenes the Criminal Code, the DPP said.
Staff from the Legislative Yuan’s Conference Department only distribute ballots to legislators after ascertaining that they have signed in and are present, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said.
The DPP caucus would file a formal complaint with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and request an investigation, DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
The KMT caucus said the Conference Department was responsible for clarifying the issue, and that the matter should be handled according to the legislature’s regulations.
No one can force the staff to hand out another lawmaker’s ballot, so only they could answer why Ruljuwan was given a ballot when he was in China, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said.
The DPP’s request for a thorough review would not harm the KMT; it would only cause the Conference Department to suffer, Wang added.
The department staff might have mistaken KMT Legislator Ting Hsueh-chung (丁學中), who wore a mask, for Ruljuwan, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said, adding that if that were true, it was an oversight of legislative procedure.
Without counting Ruljuwan’s vote, the voting would have ended in a 47-47 tie, Hsu said.
This would not have changed the result, as Han would have cast his vote in the event of a tie, and the result would have been 48 against and 47 in favor, Hsu added.
Taiwan People’s Party legislators abstained from both rounds of voting.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS