Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday rebutted allegations from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) that DPP legislation on the transition of presidential power is unconstitutional, adding that recent frequent shifts in government positions show that such a law is necessary.
Lai said that legislation to regulate what an outgoing president may do, which items should be transferred to the incoming president and the legal status of the incoming president might be unconstitutional, since it would put restrictions on the presidential power granted by the Constitution.
DPP legislators Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) and Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday disagreed.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“The reason why we need such legislation is that, after democratization, rotation of power has become usual, yet how the transition of power should proceed and what the outgoing president may or may not do are not regulated by any law,” Lee said. “In 2008, the KMT also proposed similar legislation, which would freeze the outgoing president’s power to sign treaties and agreements, as well as appointing officials.”
“If the KMT believes it is unconstitutional, why did it previously propose a bill that is almost identical to ours?” Lee said.
Chen said the Civil Functionaries Appointment Act (公務人員任用法) also restricts the power of elected officials to make appointments.
“According to the law, an outgoing elected official may not appoint new officials between the election day and the inauguration of the successor,” Chen said. “As the law does not apply to the president, what we are doing is filling in the loophole. If restricting presidential power is unconstitutional, why is the Civil Functionaries Appointment Act constitutional?”
Lee said that according to official statistics he obtained from the Executive Yuan’s Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, there had been frequent personnel appointments and transfers between July last year and Jan. 29.
“There have been cases where specially appointed officials were turned into public servants, which means these people would be protected by legal tenure, and the new government would not be able to do anything to them,” Lee said. “This is why we need an act to prevent such irregularities.”
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS