The legislature yesterday unanimously supported the Executive Yuan’s veto of a controversial amendment to the Accounting Act (會計法) on the first day of a two-week extra session, temporarily snuffing a political firestorm.
A vote of 110 to zero means that the amendment, which would have exempted city and county councilors from charges of misusing public funds and released hundreds of academics from probes into their use of receipts to claim government funds, will be nullified.
Three of the 113 lawmakers did not vote yesterday afternoon, including Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who is visiting China, independent Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恆), who decided not to vote because the amendment could have exonerated his father, Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), an imprisoned former lawmaker.
Photo: CNA
The vote, at least for now, puts to rest one of the biggest legislative controversies of recent years after the public condemned the nation’s political parties for their “late-night secret deal” on the final day of the previous legislative session, when opposition parties, which favored the decriminalization of academics, collaborated with the KMT, which had an eye on getting Yen out of prison, in closed-door cross-party negotiations.
With its majority, the KMT dominated a morning vote on the agenda for the extra session.
Notable items among the 49 proposals included an amendment to the Income Tax Act (所得稅法), related to the controversial capital gains tax on securities transactions, and legislation related to the 12-year compulsory education system, pension reform and a national referendum on the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).
The KMT also agreed to place proposals by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) on legislation against monopolization in the media on the agenda.
However, the DPP’s “three anti-nuclear bills,” which are proposed amendments regarding the promotion of a nuclear-free homeland (非核家園推動法), and to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Control Act (核子反應器設施管制法) and the Referendum Act (公投法), failed to make the list, despite them being supported by the TSU and the People First Party.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) is scheduled to report to the legislature today on the 12-year compulsory education system, another disputed policy that could spur heated debate.
The controversial proposal for a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled for the latter part of the extra session, which concludes on June 27, KMT caucus whip Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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