Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to display bipartisanship after they voted to authorize funding for the first phase of the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program.
The deadlock over the infrastructure plan was the most prolonged and intense legislative confrontation in Taiwanese history, DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
Passage of the budget required calling three special sessions over two-and-a-half months, Ker said, adding that he hoped the parties would reconsider how the legislature should operate and would work together in the nation’s interest.
Although the DPP tried to communicate with the KMT at every opportunity, it could not allow it to paralyze the legislature and had no option but to push the budget through by casting a historic 2,471 votes in one week, Ker said.
“It would have taken three months if eight rounds of votes had been held for each of the more than 10,000 motions. That would have made the Legislative Yuan useless,” he said. “I urge KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) to end the vicious political confrontation and think about Taiwan’s future.”
DPP caucus chief executive Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津) said the party had made concession after concession, including agreeing to slash the budget by tens of billions of New Taiwan dollars, but each negotiation was shoaled by KMT obstruction.
“While the majority must respect the minority in a democracy, we will not allow the minority to paralyze policies that have the support of the people,” she said.
DPP caucus secretary-general Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) denied accusations that the governing party was ramming the budget through by “packaging” it into a single vote.
“If that were true, we would not have had to hold 2,471 votes for three days and nights. What is the purpose of voting eight times on each motion?” Lee said.
The Council of Grand Justices’ Interpretation No. 342 affirms the authority of the legislature to establish procedural rules for its operations, he added.
DPP spokesman Yang Chia-liang (楊家俍) in a press release hailed the passage of the National Sports Act (國民體育法) amendments and the infrastructure plan budget as historic achievements.
Yang expressed his gratitude to Ker and the party’s lawmakers for their efforts in passing the sports act amendments in time for the post-Universiade parade, held yesterday afternoon.
“This is a great moment for the development of sports in Taiwan; this glorious moment will be remembered by the Taiwanese people,” Yan said, adding that the sports act would protect the rights of the nation’s athletes.
The first-phase budget for the infrastructure plan would usher in an era of better living standards and reinitiate systematic infrastructure construction, Yang said.
The next eight years would see the timely construction of high-quality infrastructure nationwide, he added.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS