The legislature’s Procedure Committee yesterday passed a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus-proposed bill aimed at establishing a protocol to regulate transfers of power for the period between presidential elections and their inaugurations.
The proposal is now listed on Friday’s legislative agenda. In the hope that the proposed bill could be passed before the current legislative session goes into recess next Wednesday, the DPP caucus yesterday said it would demand that the bill be put directly to a second reading during Friday’s plenary session and then be put to discussion, along with a similar proposal by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟).
The DPP caucus’ version would stipulate that as soon as the Central Election Commission (CEC) announces an election result, the president-elect must establish an office to handle pre-inauguration matters. During the transitional period, officials from the central government should brief the -president-elect on their respective departments’ affairs, it added.
As for an incumbent who fails in a re-election bid, he or she must neither appoint nor transfer officials during the period between Election Day and the day she or he leaves office, it said. With the exception of those that have been passed by the legislature, all directives, budgets and policies that the president-elect deems controversial should be put on hold for the president-elect and vice president-elect to deal with after they assume office, it added.
The main difference between the DPP version and the KMT caucus’ version (which was later combined with the version proposed by Lu) was that the KMT caucus was of the opinion that a “handover committee” should be established within seven days of the CEC’s announcement of the election result. The KMT caucus’ version suggested that a committee head be appointed by the president-elect, while both the incumbent and the president-elect select five people each to serve as members of the committee.
The CEC’s decision earlier this year to merge next year’s presidential election and the legislative elections means the presidential vote, which was supposed to be held in March next year, will take place in January, creating an unprecedented four-month gap between the presidential election and the president-elect’s inauguration on May 20.
A number of academics have expressed concerns over the four-month transition period on issues such as whether there should be an en masse resignation of the Cabinet and whether the caretaker government would refrain from making major policy changes.
Additional reporting by CNA
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military