The Presidential Office announced its nominees for the Control Yuan June 22, with former PO Secretary-General Chen Chu set to head the government branch responsible for investigating and disciplining public agencies and servants.
During a press conference held at the PO in Taipei City, chairperson of the nomination committee and former Vice President Chen Chien-jen said the 27 members have been chosen by President Tsai Ing-wen for their respective expertise, human rights work and experience in public service.
Under the country’s constitution, the nominees must be reviewed and confirmed by the Legislature, with an extraordinary session set to take place between June 29 and July 22.
According to the PO, Chen Chu is the ideal candidate to lead the Control Yuan given her extensive experience in public administration and her track record promoting democracy and human rights in Taiwan. She has promised to resign from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to maintain neutrality in her new position.
Chen was an active member of Taiwan’s pro-democracy movement during the 1970s. She was jailed between 1980 and 1986 for her involvement in the Kaohsiung Incident of 1979.
Holding a master’s degree in public affairs management from National Sun Yat-sen University in the southern port city, she was Kaohsiung mayor from 2006 to 2018 and minister of labor from 2000 to 2005.
Seven of the PO’s selections are current Control Yuan members, with new nominees including Chen Chin-jun, former deputy mayor of Taipei, Su Li-chung, former deputy minister of health and welfare, and Antonio Hong, a member of the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee.
If confirmed, Chen will be sworn in for a six-year term Aug. 1. She is set to double as chief of the 10-member National Human Rights Commission, which is charged with reviewing complaints of abuses and discrimination, as well as drafting and proposing the National Human Rights Report and advising government agencies on related policymaking, according to the PO. (SFC-E)
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