News
Han Kuo-yu wins LY speakership vote
The new legislature has been sworn in and lawmakers have elected the KMT's Han Kuo-yu as the new speaker and Johnny Chiang as deputy speaker.
Han and Chiang won with a plurality of 54 votes after a two-candidate runoff with the backing of all 52 KMT lawmakers and two independents. You Si-kun and Tsai Chi-chang received 51 votes - all of which came from DPP lawmakers.
The runoff vote was triggered after the eight Taiwan People's Party lawmakers cast their ballots for lawmaker Huang Shan-shan and Zhang Qi-kai in the first round, leaving no candidates with a required majority. The TPP's lawmakers abstained from casting ballots in the second round.
After he was elected, Han said he fully understood the responsibility that comes with the post and that he would work to lead a Legislative Yuan that seeks to "create happiness for Taiwanese people." Han also extended his gratitude to outgoing speaker You Si-kun - saying he had made a great contribution to Taiwan's democracy over the past 42 years.
Following his loss, You Si-kun resigned as a legislator-at-large. He announced his resignation on social media with a typed announcement. His slot as a DPP legislator-at-large will be filled by the next candidate in line on the list, which is expected to be Wang Cheng-hsu, the chairman of the Hope Foundation for Cancer Care.
In related news, the DPP's Central Evaluation Committee has expelled 50 party members. They include former lawmaker Julian Guo and agricultural blogger Lin Yu-hong. The committee said all of the expelled party members either violated party rules by campaigning for other political parties or were involved in #MeToo sex scandals. Although some of them had previously announced they were voluntarily withdrawing from the party, the disciplinary committee stated that it was still obliged to revoke their memberships.
The DPP Central Evaluation Committee says the unanimous decision to expel the members was made after discussions about their conduct in 2022's nine-in-one local elections and the 2024 presidential and legislative elections. Along with expelling 50 party members, the DPP's disciplinary committee has also suspended the memberships of 37 members for a year.
