News
KMT seeking state-of-the-nation address
The KMT is seeking to invite president-elect Lai Ching-te to make what would be Taiwan's first state of the nation address at the Legislative Yuan following his 20 May inauguration.
According to KMT caucus secretary-general Hong Meng-kai, Lai needs to explain and clarify his planned policies with lawmakers and the proposal for Lai to address lawmakers adheres to Article 15-2 of the Act on Exercising Legislative Yuan (LY) powers.
The Taiwan People's Party has also submitted a similar proposal and the KMT caucus secretary-general says the matter will now be added to Friday's legislative agenda. The KMT is calling on the DPP not to block the proposal, while Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu says he hopes both sides can agree on the issue.
The DPP has said Lai is open to the idea of making a state of the nation address - but several issues still need to be negotiated. The main issue is whether Lai will take questions from individual lawmakers after giving his address.
In unrelated news from the LY, KMT lawmakers have 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. The committee's eight DPP members voted in favour and the one Taiwan People's Party member abstained.
The vote came after the cabinet announced four nominations for the seven-member communications regulator on April 30, with three replacing commissioners whose four-year terms expire on 31 July.
Current NCC deputy chairman, Wong Po-tsung was nominated to lead the agency while communications scholars Chen Bing-hong and Luo Hui-wen, along with Chan Yi-lien, the head of the NCC's Department of Platforms and Businesses, were nominated for seats on the commission.
The KMT's block means that further negotiations will be held. If no deal is reached during those negotiations, the four outgoing NCC commissioners will remain in their positions until their successors are confirmed.
