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All eyes to be on
legislature on Tuesday
EXPECTING FIREWORKS? KMT infighting is likely to
be on everyone’s minds if the premier makes his expected report to lawmakers,
watched over by Wang Jin-pyng
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The opening day of the new legislative session on Tuesday is expected to attract
far more attention than previous opening days with the public focusing on
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) amid the
political feuding within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Embroiled in one of the most fierce political controversies in recent memory, in
which the KMT tried to remove him from the legislature for alleged illegal
lobbying, Wang convened a party negotiation yesterday morning to discuss Jiang’s
scheduled report to the legislature.
Party caucuses reached a consensus that Jiang would be invited to deliver a
report — a traditional practice for every new legislative session — on Tuesday.
Wang’s presence at the negotiations was in question after his party membership
was revoked by the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee on
Wednesday.
According to the KMT, that meant Wang immediately lost his position as a
legislator–at-large and therefore the speakership.
The 72-year-old, who was awaiting a final ruling from the Taipei District Court
on his appeal to retain KMT membership, insisted that he was still speaker.
“I’m going to do my job as long as I am still the legislative speaker,” Wang
told reporters in the morning.
Jiang stepped into the controversy, which has been widely seen as a well-planned
vendetta by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he echoed Ma’s condemnation of
Wang’s alleged illegal lobbying and said last week that Wang “was no longer
competent for the legislative speaker position” and “we are ready for a
Legislative Yuan without speaker Wang.”
Jiang’s comments have drawn strong criticism and accusations that he is
contemptuous of the legislative branch and has breached the principle of the
separation of powers as stipulated by the Constitution.
The premier is expected to face a difficult situation when he delivers a report
to a legislative plenary session chaired by Wang rather than Deputy Speaker Hung
Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who is said to be Ma’s preferred candidate to succeed Wang as
speaker, after the Taipei District Court upheld Wang’s provisional injunction
against the KMT.
The ruling means that Wang would still be speaker when the new session begins on
Tuesday.
The KMT notified the Central Election Committee (CEC) right after the
announcement that Wang’s party membership had been revoked, as the committee
subsequently asked the legislature to void Wang’s position, a procedure that
would officially oust him from the legislature.
However, the Legislative Yuan Secretariat has not completed that procedure.
Opposition party caucuses support Wang staying on, with Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) saying that a speaker should be
unseated by lawmakers rather than a political party.
Wang would hold the speakership until his KMT membership is nullified by a court
in future rulings, Taiwan Solidarity Union caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信)
said.
“If Jiang makes his report to the legislature as scheduled, it means the premier
endorses Wang’s position as speaker,” Hsu added.
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