The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday traded accusations of blame over a legislative staff member surnamed Hsiao (蕭) who fainted at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
After the KMT caucus proposed more than 1,000 motions to be voted on in an extraordinary legislative session on the budgets of state-run companies, legislators began a round-the-clock marathon voting session that was originally scheduled to end at midnight today, but ended at about 7pm on Wednesday after the staff member passed out.
“I really hope that the KMT thinks about how it may rise again from the ruins,” DPP caucus whip Ko Chien-ming (柯建銘) told reporters. “Every member of the KMT caucus, all its legislators, should realize that it is important to think about how to rise again and how to win the hearts of the public; unreasonable scorched earth policies will only see the party fall even further.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“One Legislative Yuan staff member has fallen, was that the KMT’s objective?” DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) asked.
He said that, in the past, the DPP boycotted meetings to force the KMT into cross-caucus negotiations, but he could not understand why the KMT boycotted a meeting on the budgets for state-run companies and then also refused to negotiate.
“[The KMT’s boycott] has only achieved two things: paralyzing the nation and making the staff at the Legislative Yuan suffer,” Tuan said.
The KMT caucus blamed Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) for Hsiao’s suffering.
“We strongly condemn the DPP for overlooking the suffering of Legislative Yuan staff,” the KMT said in a press statement. “In the past, the DPP has delayed [the review of government] budgets for more than a year and it therefore does not make sense why it wants to complete the review of budgets for state-run businesses during the extraordinary session.”
The statement added that, according to normal procedure, there could always be another extraordinary session if the budgets or motions could not be passed during the current session.
“It is the responsibility of legislators to strictly review budgets and during budget reviews the governing and opposition parties always make different proposals,” the KMT said.
“Especially when the majority party does not respect the minority party, strictly reviewing budgets is one of the very few tactics that a minority party can use,” it said.
Hsiao had slept for only three hours the night before the marathon voting session began.
She complained of a stomachache before passing out.
After staying in a hospital emergency room overnight, Hsiao was reported to be in stable condition.
New Power Party Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) said that when she visited Hsiao in the hospital, she was still concerned about the extraordinary legislative session.
While the KMT caucus has asked the Taipei Department of Labor to inspect the working conditions at the Legislative Yuan, Taipei Department of Labor Director Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that, since Hsiao is a public servant, she is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Civil Service and not the city government.
However, Lai urged the Legislative Yuan to pay close attention to working conditions.
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