TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) on Sunday criticized Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) for calling for the abolition of the Control Yuan.
Arguing that the Control Yuan has lost its neutrality, Chiang on Friday urged the legislature to reject the DPP’s nominees to the oversight body and move forward with efforts to abolish it, per Liberty Times. Under Taiwan’s Constitution, the Control Yuan serves as a government watchdog.
The oversight body’s members were elected by local councils until constitutional reforms under then-President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) transferred nomination authority to the president in 1992.
Citing a previous Constitutional Court interpretation, Shen said the Constitution does not permit the legislature to render the Control Yuan inoperable by refusing to exercise its confirmation powers, per NOWNews. He added that the KMT has frequently cited Control Yuan reports during legislative questioning.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) also weighed in, noting that Chiang did not support the DPP’s proposal to abolish the Control Yuan in 2020, per Mirror Media. The DPP has long advocated abolishing the body and transferring its powers to the legislature.
Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), a pro-independence physician and former lawmaker who was nominated to serve as Control Yuan president, said during his nomination news conference that the legislature could amend the Constitution and transfer the Control Yuan’s investigative and impeachment powers to the Legislative Yuan, per CNA.
The opposition’s latest calls to abolish the Control Yuan stem from what it views as the agency’s reluctance to investigate the central government. Taipei City Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Chair Yin Wei (殷瑋) recently highlighted a defense procurement contract for tank-shell propellant that was awarded to a company known for selling electrical equipment such as wires and switches, per Liberty Times.
The Control Yuan also faced criticism over a recent report concerning the ownership dispute involving Tatung Co., per UDN. The report suggested that Taiwanese businessperson Cheng Wen-i (鄭文逸) may have been wrongly convicted of stock manipulation and that the case warranted renewed review.
Critics noted that the report did not disclose that three of its experts were Cheng’s attorney, the father of another attorney representing Cheng, and a scholar hired by Cheng. During the original trial, the High Court raised concerns about the neutrality of statements and reports submitted by scholars retained by Cheng.
