The outgoing sixth legislature could be described as "record-breaking" for a number of reasons, including the length of time for which it stalled the annual budget and its unprecedented attempts to impeach the president.
The three impeachment attempts against President Chen Shui-bian (
The impeachment attempts were also undone in part because of a lack of consensus in the pan-blue camp.
While the Legislative Yuan is legally obliged to complete its review of the annual budget within a prescribed timeframe, the sixth legislature managed to delay the passage of the budget until the middle of June last year -- 197 days after the official deadline in late November 2006.
By the time the budget passed, it had been slashed by more than NT$34 billion (US$1 billion). In delaying its passage, lawmakers violated the Budget Act (預算法), which stipulates that requests must be completed in the legislature one month before the fiscal year starts and be promulgated by the president 15 days before that. The delay also resulted in a 44-day sit-in by the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
The main reason for the delay in the budget's passage was that the pan-blue camp at first refused to review it until the legislature considered its draft of the organic law of the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The latter was the cause of the longest stand-off between the government and the opposition and the most brawls in the sixth legislature.
The dispute centered on the composition of the 17-member CEC, which is tasked with preparing for and conducting elections and national referendums.
Under the version recently proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), 12 of the CEC's members would be nominated by political parties according to their representation in the legislature.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers staged fierce protests on the floor on several occasions to prevent a vote on the bill, arguing that its passage would give the pan-blue camp too much influence over the CEC.
Physical brawls between pan-green and pan-blue legislators led Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
During an infamous brawl on Jan. 19 last year, DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) threw her shoes at the speaker's podium.
The "shoe incident" captured the media's imagination and there were rumors that Wang's shoes had been auctioned online for NT$320,000, although this was later found to be untrue.
The photograph from Taiwan that was most widely disseminated last year was probably one that showed the doors to the legislative floor padlocked shut on May 8. This was done by the pan-green camp to prevent the third reading of the KMT's draft CEC law.
To maintain the dignity of his position, Wang Jin-pyng refused to use a side entrance and the standoff continued.
To prevent a repeat of the situation, the handles on the doors were later removed. However, DPP legislators instead blocked the doors with sofas and chairs. The draft has yet to pass.
Another unfortunate record set by the sixth legislature was that for the most legislators whose offices were searched by prosecutors investigating allegations against them.
In all, five legislators had their offices searched: Hsueh Ling (
Additional reporting by Peng Hsien-chun and Huang Wei-chu
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and