Although observers and lawmakers hold different views on the future of the Aboriginal autonomy bill, they still hope that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would use its absolute majority to accelerate its passage.
"I'm not too pessimistic about the passage of diversity bills," Tamkang University public administration professor Shih Cheng-feng (施正鋒) said when asked to discuss the future of such bills.
"In the past, lawmakers could blame the slow progress in adopting the laws on conflict between the pan-green and pan-blue camps -- but now it's all the KMT's responsibility if the bills are again stalled," Shih said.
The KMT won a near three-quarters majority in the legislative election last month.
Shih said that if the legislation is adopted by the KMT-controlled legislature, the party would get the credit for it and may gain more votes in future.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ying (
"The KMT government never made any move toward allowing autonomy for Aborigines during the decades it was in power, so I'm quite skeptical about whether they will really make an effort to pass it," she said.
"Kung Wen-chi (
Kung is a KMT legislator from the Atayal tribe who has also been pushing for Aboriginal autonomy.
The Aboriginal autonomy bill was first drafted and submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review by the Cabinet in 2003, following a promise by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during the 2000 presidential campaign that he would give the nation's Aborigines autonomous status.
The Cabinet version of the draft bill would allow the nation's Aboriginal tribes to create one or more autonomous regions, according to the geographic location of communities belonging to the same tribe.
The plan stipulates that each Aboriginal autonomous region would be granted the right to make decisions on its political, economic and cultural development, as well as enjoy financial independence.
The bill did not pass the legislative review as lawmakers disagreed on some provisions.
After the bill was returned to the Cabinet, the Cabinet resubmitted another version with minor changes last year. But that draft was again not passed.
Council of Indigenous People minister Icyang Parod told the Taipei Times last week that the council would submit the bill to the new legislature for a third review and urged the KMT to "pass the bill quickly" as there are "no more excuses for its delay."
"The KMT seems to focus more on cultural autonomy, while the DPP cares more about the right to self-determination, which views [autonomous governments] as partners of the central government," Obay a Awi, a Saisiat autonomy activist told the Taipei Times by telephone.
"Ma supports autonomy for Aborigines," Kung said. "But he's been more careful and thinks that it may be better if we can pick one or two tribes to run their autonomous regions on a trial basis to see how it works."
Kung said the DPP leans more toward allowing autonomy to all tribes at once.
"[If] Ma is elected president in March, autonomy for selected tribes on a trial basis may be in place within two years," he said.
Obay was not so optimistic.
"If the KMT is really sincere about passing the bill, it can be passed very quickly," Obay said. "So far I don't feel their sincerity."
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS