Chen Chu nominated to head Control Yuan, 26 other nominees unveiled

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) The Presidential Office on Monday officially announced nominations for the Control Yuan, with former Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) to head the nation's top government watchdog and its newly established National Human Rights Commission.

President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) 26 other nominations to the nation's top government watchdog were announced during a news conference held Monday at the Presidential Office.

At the event, Chen announced she will resign from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, saying her new job requires her to transcend party lines.

The Presidential Office had originally planned to hold a news conference last Friday to announce Tsai's nominated Control Yuan members but that was canceled one hour ahead of its scheduled start after the selection of former Taitung County Magistrate Justin Huang (黃健庭) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) as vice president of the Control Yuan sparked criticism from political figures across party lines.

The KMT announced that it would suspend Huang's membership for violating party rules by accepting a political appointment from another party without KMT approval.

Meanwhile, members of Tsai's DPP also criticized the choice, citing accusations of corruption against Huang during his tenure as a lawmaker and his support for a controversial resort development project in Taitung that drew opposition from local indigenous groups.

The controversy prompted Huang of the KMT to decline Tsai's nomination.

Former New Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) of the KMT late Saturday also declined Tsai's nomination as a member of the Control Yuan, amid criticism that having been impeached by the Control Yuan a decade ago, he is unsuitable for the job.

The two vacancies will be left unfilled until Tsai submits new nominations at a future date, Presidential Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said, adding that President Tsai takes full responsibility for her nominations.

The term of incumbent Control Yuan members ends on July 31 and the newly nominated Control Yuan members will assume their duties from Aug. 1, according to Su, with several incumbents renominated.

The Control Yuan is the government branch responsible for investigating and disciplining public servants and public agencies and consists of 29 members appointed by the president and approved by the Legislature Yuan every six years.

Chen Chu served as mayor of Kaohsiung from 2006-2018 before becoming secretary-general in the Presidential Office under President Tsai.

Chen was jailed for six years in the wake of the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident when the KMT regime arrested pro-democracy activists.

After becoming Control Yuan president, Chen Chu will head the 10-member National Human Rights Commission, which will be made up of seven Control Yuan members, with two other members to be selected from candidates nominated by commission members and rotated annually.

Four new Control Yuan members will serve on the commission: Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容), a senior women's rights activist; former legislator Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋); Youth Rights and Welfare Secretary-General Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華); and Antonio Hong (鴻義章), a member of the Presidential Office's Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee.

Three renominated incumbent Control Yuan members will also double as members of the commission -- Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲), Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) and Tien Chiu-chin （田秋堇).

Other renominated Control Yuan members include Jao Yung-ching (趙永清), Tsai Chung-yi (蔡崇義), Lin Sheng-fong (林盛豐) and Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), and new nominees include Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊).

The Control Yuan nominations will be sent the Legislative Yuan for review and confirmation at an extraordinary legislative session from June 29 to July 22.

(By Ku Chuan, Yeh Su-ping and Evelyn Kao)

Enditem/AW