Cross-party support to abolish Control Yuan grows as nominee withdraws

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) Parties from across Taiwan's political spectrum signaled support for abolishing the Control Yuan on Tuesday after one of President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) nominees to the government watchdog body declined the appointment.

Hsieh Cheng-ta (謝政達), a senior attorney and former New Taipei deputy mayor from the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), said in a statement that he was rejecting his nomination to the Control Yuan because he supports amending the Constitution to abolish the body.

Hsieh thanked Lai for the nomination but said that, after careful consideration, he had decided to decline it as a concrete show of support for constitutional amendment proposals currently before the Legislative Yuan.

Hsieh was among 27 nominees for the Control Yuan announced by the Presidential Office on June 11. The current members' six-year terms expire on July 31, with the new appointees scheduled to take office on Aug. 1.

Hsieh said he had originally accepted the nomination because he believed his years of administrative experience, along with his work in human rights and labor affairs, would help rebuild public trust in the Control Yuan.

However, he said that since the nomination list was released, debate over the body's future had revealed growing cross-party support for abolishing the Control Yuan, a position he said he shares.

Meanwhile, the legislative caucus of the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) said Tuesday it would push ahead with a constitutional amendment to abolish the watchdog body, and seek to eliminate all of its discretionary budget before any constitutional changes take effect.

TPP caucus whip Chen Ching-lung (陳清龍) said the party would press the Legislature's Constitutional Amendment Committee to begin deliberations on abolishing the Control Yuan and would seek to reduce the body's budget to zero except for legally required expenditures.

The party will also vote against all of Lai's nominees, Chen said.

Responding to the TPP's proposal, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said abolishing the Control Yuan has long been the DPP's position.

Chuang said the Constitutional Amendment Committee has already been established and urged all parties to begin deliberations.

He added that Lai, as president and guardian of the Constitution, is nevertheless required to nominate Control Yuan members until any constitutional amendment takes effect.