Wed, Feb 24, 2016 page1

• DPP urges passage of transition bill

  BROAD CONSENSUS: The president ‘has agreed to the necessity’ of the legislature passing a presidential transition act and the sharing of non-classified information

  • By Su Fang-ho and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday reiterated the urgency of passing a presidential transition act, following its meeting with representatives from the Presidential Office on Friday last week.

  Jason Liu (劉建忻), DPP deputy secretary-general and government transition task force co-convenor, made the remarks at a news conference clarifying the five-point policy statement the DPP made after the meeting, saying that the legislation could not be obviated by the Executive Yuan’s “essential requirements” guideline for governmental transition.

  Later in the evening, the Presidential Office declared a halt to the implementation of the “essential requirements.”

  The first demand of the task force is to require the government to negotiate specific guidelines to execute administrative transition until the Legislative Yuan ratifies presidential transition of powers legislation.

  Second, the process for the transition of government should be institutionalized by law and the presidential transition bill represents a legal “necessity” to safeguard the continuity of government and guarantee the outgoing administration’s deference to the will of the people and the agenda of the incoming administration, Liu said.

  This is to be accomplished by requiring government agencies and departments to pass relevant information to the president-elect in the interim period, he added.

  Third, the DPP said it has begun to assign liaison personnel to government contacts to facilitate information requests and invitations to officials for policy discussions made by president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), especially with regard to administrative jurisdictions, organizations, and personnel and budgetary situations.

  The DPP’s transition task force has initiated preparations for managing the nation’s needs during the peak electricity consumption period in the summer and the high flood-risk period between May and November through the system of liaison and contacts, Liu said.

  Fourth, it demands the government refrain from making policy decisions that would carry over to the next fiscal year and to suspend ongoing policy items that are inessential to government operations, have no particular urgency or are controversial. Joint negotiations should precede the execution of urgent or essential policy measures.

  Fifth, the DPP states that it does not consider the proposed essential requirements an urgent priority at the present, because it is a set of internal regulations for the Executive Yuan and most of its stipulations are concerned with the the future handover of duties by departmental and agency directors.

  In response, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) issued a statement saying that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has “agreed to the necessity” of passing a presidential transition bill and that the office had replied in writing to the DPP.

  In a separate interview with the Chinese-language Apple Daily, Chen said that Ma agreed to expedite the sharing of non-classified information with Tsai and her office, but state secrets protected by the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and the Archives Act (檔案法) would not be disclosed until either the passage of the proposed presidential transition act or the formal appointment of officials with the appropriate clearance.

  “The president’s agreement about legislating the presidential transition process is conditional on its constitutionality and he will respect the Legislative Yuan’s decision as to whether to pass the proposed transition act before Tsai’s inauguration on May 20,” Chen said.
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