Seeking to have more say in future legislation, independent lawmakers are making a fresh attempt to resurrect the Non-partisan Alliance, a former legislative caucus that was dissolved for lack of members.
Independents are hoping their ranks will be filled by at least some of the four KMT legislators expelled from their party on Tuesday.
"We're confident this time the alliance can pass the threshold required for its formation," said Chou Chiang-yu (周湘瑜), aide of independent lawmaker Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁). "To that end, Chen will cut short his trip to China on Friday to give the matter a final push."
The legislature's internal rules stipulate that a caucus must consist of at least eight lawmakers or garner more than five percent of the vote in legislative elections.
All caucuses can send representatives to cross-party negotiations, which play an important role in resolving partisan differences over the content of bills and order of business.
Chen, who was expelled from the KMT on Tuesday, was a core member of the Non-partisan Alliance, through which former independent legislator Lo Fu-chu (
A caucus can stall the legislative process by withholding its consent from any proposed agreement.
The alliance, if brought back to life, would cooperate with the ruling DPP to help preserve political stability, Chen has said.
Independent lawmakers Tsai Hau (
In the previous session, the independents were one lawmaker short of being able to establish a caucus. Aboriginal lawmaker May Chin (
Yang Wen-hsin (
Hung Chao-nan (洪昭男), another independent legislator who earlier broke ranks with the KMT, has said he prefers to remain unaffiliated.
Wu, the sole lawmaker from the pro-unification New Party, said he is looking forward to creating a caucus for independents so that they can have a greater say in legislation in the fall session.
He said his membership of the alliance would not interfere with his political stance or vice versa.
"Non-partisan in nature, the alliance will not take punitive actions against its members in the first place," Wu said. "On issues where there is consensus, members will take collective action. On issues where there is no consensus, members will be free to cast their ballots in line with their own political judgement."
Cashing in on their absence of political affiliations, these lawmakers have been flirting with both the ruling and opposition camps, though most sided with the "pan-green" side during key votes in the past session.
Their backing is believed to have contributed to the narrow victory in the appointment of Yao Chia-wen (
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we