Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday rejected a bill to advance the government’s nominations of four new members of the National Communications Commission (NCC).
All nine KMT members of the legislature’s Procedure Committee voted against scheduling floor time to consider the nominations, while the committee’s eight Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members voted in favor and the one Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) member abstained.
The vote came after the Executive Yuan on Tuesday last week announced four nominees for the seven-member communications regulator, with three replacing commissioners whose four-year terms expire on July 31.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
NCC Deputy Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) was nominated to lead the agency, while communications experts Chen Ping-hung (陳炳宏) and Lo Huei-wen (羅慧雯), along with Department of Platforms and Businesses head Chan Yi-lien (詹懿廉) were nominated for seats on the commission.
The KMT’s move to block the nominations in committee means they are likely to remain stalled, unless negotiations can be held to ease their opposition or the government rescinds the appointments.
The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that if no deal is reached, the four outgoing NCC commissioners, including NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥), will remain in their positions until their successors are confirmed.
The NCC has been a frequent target of KMT criticism in the past few years, most notably for its refusal to renew the broadcast license of CTi News channel in December 2020, effectively shutting it down.
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