The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have announced that they would not be recommending candidates for the Control Yuan.
The term of the sixth-term members of the Control Yuan expires on July 31. The Presidential Office has sent letters to political parties requesting their recommendations for new members.
KMT spokeswoman Yin Nai-ching (尹乃菁) yesterday criticized the Control Yuan, saying that, under the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rule, it has effectively become a tool of the ruling party, with largely ceremonial oversight powers.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Former Control Yuan president Chen Chu (陳菊) was allowed to take leave for more than a year, despite promises to clean up its own ranks, Yin said.
The legislature repeatedly delayed action in dealing with allegations of Control Yuan members misusing government vehicles, with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office closing the case and allowing officials to emerge unscathed, she said.
“Once tasked with upholding government ethics, the Control Yuan now risks undermining public trust, leaving frontline civil servants disillusioned,” she said.
Yin said the KMT supports keeping the Control Yuan, but “will not participate in the Presidential Office’s vague and symbolic moves,” citing a lack of concrete details on candidate recommendations.
She said the KMT has decided not to nominate any members at this time.
“If the Presidential Office is serious, it can formally request nominations, specifying how many candidates the KMT is entitled to propose under party proportionality. The KMT will consider the request and respond accordingly,” she added.
As for the TPP, as early as last month TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) had declined to submit any recommendations.
He added that the TPP caucus has gained approval for the establishment of a constitutional amendment committee, “with aims to put into practice the DPP’s long-standing call to abolish the Control Yuan.”
DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) yesterday said that, while the DPP has long advocated abolishing the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan, the Control Yuan remains a constitutional body until the Constitution is formally amended.
The president has the legal authority to nominate members, and the Legislative Yuan is obligated to review them, he said.
“If the legislature passively withholds consent, preventing the Control Yuan from functioning, it could raise constitutional concerns,” he said, urging opposition parties to pursue reforms through proper constitutional amendments, rather than letting government inaction stall the nation.
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