An attempt by opposition lawmakers yesterday to force the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to return a revised draft amendment of the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) to committee review was stymied after DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) called absent DPP lawmakers to the meeting to vote down the proposal.
The legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday held a meeting to review environmental protection budget requests, during which New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) made a point of order about what he called “procedural flaws” during a joint committee review of the proposed amendment on Monday last week.
A motion by DPP lawmakers on the two committees to send the revision to cross-caucus negotiations was passed during the review.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The time that DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), who chaired the joint review, gave each lawmaker to speak about the issue and to question officials was too short, Hsu said.
When Lin sought other lawmakers’ consent for her to sign off on the meeting minutes, some lawmakers filed objections, which Lin ignored, he said.
The meeting last week should be voided and the revised amendment should be returned to committee review, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) then filed a motion to end discussions and put the legitimacy of last week’s meeting to a vote.
Despite a staff member at the legislature advising against the move, saying that the decisions reached during a joint committee review should not be overturned by a single committee, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who chaired yesterday’s meeting, announced that the committee would proceed with the vote.
The vote was initially tied with four lawmakers voting for and four against Lee’s motion. Chiang broke the tie by casting a “yes” vote.
“How does it feel being forced to end discussions? I hope that lawmakers from the ruling party will refrain from doing this anymore,” Hsu said, as a visibly apprehensive Ker rushed to the podium to reason with Chiang.
Ker’s move drew protests from Hsu, who told him to “stop gesturing” and stop interfering with his plan to file a procedural motion.
The two then engaged in a loud exchange, while other DPP lawmakers claimed the vote was illegitimate.
Seeing that the meeting had been thrown into turmoil, Chiang called a 10-minute break, during which Ker informed other DPP lawmakers on the committee of the situation.
When Lee tendered another motion to have committee members vote on the validity of last week’s meeting minutes after the break, more DPP lawmakers joined the meeting and Lee’s proposal was eventually struck down.
‘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
RSS