The failure of some government officials to answer legislative inquiries triggered a heated debate between ruling and opposition lawmakers yesterday, with Premier Yu Shyi-kun seeking to stay above the fray.
Opposition legislators said they could not effectively exercise legislative oversight in the absence of Cabinet ministers they invite to committee meetings. But their DPP counterparts doubted the necessity of having government officials attend all those forums, many of which are aimed at embarrassing them.
KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (
"I suggest punishing the former by holding them in contempt of the legislature," Yang said, challenging the latter to attend the sessions.
Saying they are fed up with the administration's disrespect, leaders from the opposition KMT and PFP caucuses walked out of a cross-party talk Monday afternoon and have shut down all negotiations.
"Since the session began [in February], the DPP administration has been trampling on the legislature," PFP Legislative Whip Diane Lee (李慶安) said. "We find it meaningless to conduct cross-party talks before the problem is addressed."
Earlier, the four legislative caucuses had agreed to decide tomorrow whether to unfreeze a monthly stipend for senior citizens, among other policy issues that the Cabinet has tagged as priority.
Going a step further, KMT Legislator Kwan Yuk-noan (
Chen has declined four invitations to testify before legislative committees in the last two months on grounds none of his KMT predecessors ever set foot in the lawmaking body.
Also top on the list of no-shows are National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (
Defending the administration, DPP Legislator Kou Wen-chen (
"How can the government concentrate on boosting the economy if its officials have to partake in political stunts staged by opposition lawmakers," Kuo asked.
DPP Legislative Whip Hsu Jung-shu (許榮淑) echoed the concern, noting that all Cabinet ministers have to attend full-house interpellation sessions twice a week already.
"They will have little time for policy-making if they have to take part in committee discussions as well as meetings held by various subgroups," Hsu said.
The 12 legislature's standing committees meet three times a week.
Wang Tuoh (王拓), another DPP lawmaker, said his party has asked Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to help end the stalemate but estimated it would take some time before the opposition would return to the negotiating table.
The premier, known for his humility, compared himself to a traditional daughter-in-law in Taiwanese society, when asked to comment on the latest partisan spat.
"When the mother-in-law is giving admonitions, the daughter-in-law had better listen quietly," Yu said. "So I find it well-advised for me not to say anything on the matter."
* Secretary-General Chen Shih-meng has declined four invitations to testify before legislative committees in the last two months on grounds that none of his KMT predecessors ever set foot in the lawmaking body.
* Opposition legislators said they could not effectively exercise legislative oversight in the absence of Cabinet ministers they invite to committee meetings.
* The DPP doubts the need to have government officials attend all committee forums, many of which are aimed at embarrassing them.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS