Legislative Yuan party caucuses name 16 committee conveners

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) The Legislative Yuan party caucuses on Wednesday selected 16 conveners for eight standing committees, comprising eight lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), seven from the Kuomintang (KMT) and one from the Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

The Legislature has eight standing committees: Internal Administration; Foreign Affairs and National Defense; Economics; Finance; Education and Culture; Transportation; Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes; and Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene.

Each committee has two conveners who have the authority to set meeting agendas and convene both regular and closed-door meetings.

With a large number of bills awaiting review each year, the committee convener plays an important role as he or she sets the legislative priorities.

In the past, when the DPP or KMT held legislative majorities, the two conveners were typically split evenly between the two parties.

Among the committees, the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee has drawn particular attention, as it is tasked with reviewing three versions of a special defense budget plan -- including arms procurement from the United States -- proposed respectively by the Cabinet, the KMT and the TPP.

KMT lawmaker Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and DPP lawmaker Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) have been chosen as conveners of the committee.

The committee currently consists of seven KMT lawmakers -- including Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) -- seven DPP lawmakers and one TPP lawmaker, meaning the TPP is likely to hold the deciding vote.

Meanwhile, DPP lawmaker Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) and KMT lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) were picked as conveners of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.

DPP lawmaker Lee Po-yi (李柏毅) and KMT lawmaker Liao Hsien-hsiang (廖先翔) were selected as the conveners of the Internal Administration Committee.

DPP lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and KMT lawmaker Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪) were selected as the conveners of the Transportation Committee.

DPP lawmaker Wu Li-hua (伍麗華) and KMT legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) were selected as the conveners of the Education and Culture Committee.

DPP lawmaker Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) and KMT lawmaker Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) were chosen as the conveners of the Finance Committee.

DPP lawmaker Lin Yueh-chin (林月琴) and KMT lawmaker Lu Hsien-yi (盧縣一) will be the conveners of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.

As for the Economics Committee, DPP lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and TPP lawmaker Hung Yu-shiang (洪毓祥) were chosen as the conveners.