Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄)/CNA file photo

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) Veteran democracy advocate and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) has been chosen to lead the Transitional Justice Promotion Committee, tasked with uncovering the history of political repression during Taiwan's martial law period as a foundation for social reconciliation, Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) confirmed Tuesday.

The Executive Yuan is scheduled to hold a press conference Saturday to announce the appointment of Huang, who retired as a member of the Control Yuan in 2014, and the other members of the Transitional Justice Promotion Committee.

According to the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice passed in December last year, the committee will consist of nine members nominated by the premier, subject to legislative review and confirmation. The committee is to include a maximum of three members from the same political party and no fewer than three members from each gender.

The committee has been entrusted with four missions -- making political archives more readily available, including the retrieval of those kept by the Kuomintang (KMT), which ruled Taiwan from 1945-2000, removing authoritarian symbols, redressing judicial injustice, producing a report on the history of the period and steps to promote transitional justice.

The 74-year-old Huang met the three criteria set for the head of the committee, said a senior government official familiar with the nomination.

"He is acceptable to both blue and green camps. He has considerable political experience and is well respected for his seniority in politics," said the official who asked to remain anonymous.

Huang obtained a master's degree in political science from National Taiwan University in 1971. He was a visiting scholar at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University from 1996-1998.

Huang served two terms in the legislature, one as a member of the Tangwai movement 1981-1984 and later for the DPP from 1987-1990. He then served one term in the now disbanded National Assembly from 1992-1993 and a third term in the legislature as a DPP member from 1993-1996.

He also served two terms in the Control Yuan from 1999-2005 and from 2008-2014, for which post he was nominated by former KMT presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Members of the control Yuan are required by law to suspend their membership of any political party.

(By Shih Hsiu-chuan)
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