Parties name 16 committee conveners for new Legislative Yuan session

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan on Thursday selected 16 conveners -- or co-chairs -- for the body's eight standing committees, with eight going to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and eight to opposition parties: seven to the Kuomintang (KMT) and one to the Taiwan People's Party (TPP).

The eight standing committees are 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 call both regular and closed-door meetings.

With a large number of bills awaiting review each session, conveners play an important role because they set legislative priorities.

Conveners hold the position for one legislative session. There are typically two sessions per year.

In the past, when the DPP or the KMT held a legislative majority, the two convener posts on each committee were typically evenly split between the two parties.

Members of the opposition -- the KMT, the TPP and KMT-allied independents -- hold a majority of the seats on each committee because of their overall majority in the Legislature.

Conveners by committee

In the new legislative session, which began Sept. 29, DPP lawmaker Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) and KMT lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) will serve as conveners of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

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

DPP lawmaker Wang Cheng-hsu (王正旭) and KMT lawmaker Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) were picked as conveners of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.

DPP lawmaker Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) and KMT lawmaker Yeh Yuan-chi (葉元之) were selected as conveners of the Education and Culture Committee.

DPP lawmaker Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) and KMT lawmaker Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) were selected as conveners of the Economics Committee.

DPP lawmaker Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) and KMT lawmaker Lin Te-fu (林德福) will serve as conveners of the Finance Committee.

DPP lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and KMT lawmaker Chiu Jo-hua (邱若華) were chosen as conveners of the Transportation Committee.

DPP lawmaker Ngalim Tiunn (張雅琳) and TPP lawmaker Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) were chosen as conveners of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.