TPP lawmaker appointed foreign affairs and defense committee co-chair

Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) Taiwan People's Party (TPP) lawmaker Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) was unexpectedly appointed co-chair of the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee alongside Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Wednesday.

Lin's appointment to the important committee is remarkable, given that the TPP only holds eight seats in the 113-seat Legislative Yuan compared with the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which has 52 seats.

In recent years, the Legislature's standing committees have generally been co-chaired by one DPP lawmaker and one KMT lawmaker to represent the viewpoints of Taiwan's two main political parties.

In Wednesday morning's nomination and election process to decide the chairs of the Legislature's eight standing committees, Lin was appointed co-chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with support from KMT and TPP caucuses.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lin thanked the KMT for "politely giving way" to allow her to take up the leadership role.

Lin, elected to the national lawmaking body for the first time in January, declined to comment on whether there had been any quid pro quo between the TPP and KMT.

"I will not disappoint everyone's expectations and will conduct supervision [of the executive branch of government] with rationality and pragmatism," she answered instead.

Lin added that the budget for Taiwan's domestic submarine program would be "strictly reviewed" and "rigorously discussed," but did not say whether there would be cuts to the program.

Last month, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) approved plans to build seven submarines from 2025 to 2038 at an estimated cost of NT$284 billion (US$8.88 billion), extending the Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program that began construction under the administration of former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and has continued under current President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

Despite winning a third-consecutive presidential term, the DPP has ruled as a minority government since May because it lost its majority of seats in the Legislature in the January election.

Together commanding a majority of seats, KMT and TPP lawmakers have cooperated in recent months to pursue shared goals such as expanding the power of the legislative branch in supervising the executive branch.

Lin, the only TPP lawmaker in the 13-member committee, which also has six KMT and six DPP members, will co-chair alongside Wang during the second legislative session from September to the end of December.

Aside from the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has seven other standing committees that primarily examine proposed legislation, including commissions covering home affairs, economic affairs, finance, transportation, and education and culture.

Following the election of all the standing committee co-chairs on Wednesday, the current tally of party co-chairs for this legislative session is eight DPP co-chairs, seven KMT co-chairs and one TPP co-chair.