The Legislative Yuan is bracing itself for a showdown vote today on the law governing the operation of the National Assembly as cross-party talks called to tackle the issue yesterday failed to get off the ground.
After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was the only party to show up for the talks, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Since these are the last cross-party talks held to discuss the matter, I will handle the DPP caucus' motion [today] in accordance with the law if it files a request to reconsider the legislation," he said.
Despite joining other parties to pass the Law on the National Assembly's Exercise of Power (
The National Assembly is to meet in the coming weeks to approve a raft of constitutional amendments passed by the legislature last August, which include halving the legislature, abolishing the assembly and putting the right to referendum in the Constitution.
The DPP hopes to lower the bar for the assembly's approval of constitutional amendments from the law's 75 percent to a 50 percent simple majority -- its original position before the May 14 National Assembly elections -- and also hopes to exclude invalid ballots from the total number of votes. The statute currently stipulates that ballots cast by assembly members failing to toe their party's line should be considered invalid, but be counted into the total number of votes anyway.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) yesterday threatened to join forces to strike down the DPP's motion to reconsider part of the law, during today's plenary legislative session. The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and Non-partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU) also voiced their opposition to the DPP plan.
According to the legislature's rules, lawmakers managing to collect more than 40 signatures can request that the legislature review part or all of a bill that has already been passed. The request must be made during the first plenary legislative session following the passage of the bill, which in this bill's case takes place today.
The legislative speaker is obliged to deal with the request by the end of the day the request is made. The speaker could put the DPP's motion to a full vote, or could put off the motion for discussion at a later time.
Before the bill under re-examination is dealt with by the legislature, it cannot be promulgated by the president. Also, the vote on a measure to reconsider a bill is the last chance to attempt to change a law before it is promulgated.
The director of the DPP's Policy Committee, Ker Chien-ming (
"The reason [for the request] is that the law is flawed," he said, while admitting that the DPP has been pressured by some private groups.
The passage of the legislation reportedly angered former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who has been pushing the DPP to stand firm on its former stance of a simple majority ratification threshold for constitutional amendments.
The DPP's decision to request a review of the law was jointly made by the party headquarters and the caucus, Ker said.
According to Ker, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) telephoned him Friday after the law passed the legislature to discuss the possibility of filing a request to review some articles of the law. A caucus meeting was also held at noon that day to discuss the matter.
Despite the DPP's appeal to other parties, the KMT and PFP caucuses yesterday did not hesitate to pour cold water on the rival party's proposal.
"We are not a subordinate of the DPP," said KMT caucus whip Chen Chieh (
PFP caucus whip Chen Chih-pin (陳志彬) said that it is meaningless and ineffective to talk with a party which reneges on its promises.
For his part, DPP Legislator Chen Chin-de (
"[Wang] knew that DPP caucus whip Jao Yun-ching (趙永清) did not show up at the cross-party negotiations, nor did he assign any proxy to sign the agreement, but he turned a blind eye to it," he said.
Chen criticized the multiparty negotiation system for leading to oligarchy in the legislature as well as secret meetings, spoils systems and blackmail politics.
"It also results in legislative mayhem ... as well as the formidable power of caucus whips and Wang's dominating role," he said.
In other legislative news, contentious articles in the draft amendments of the Outlying Islands Development Law (離島建設條例) will be put to a vote if no consensus is made during a four-month cross-party negotiation period.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he