Responding to KMT, TPP bill
A set of amendments that extend the powers of the Legislative Yuan were enacted last month with the support of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
In response, the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, the Control Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus each petitioned the Constitutional Court for a constitutional interpretation of the amendments and the temporary suspension of their implementation.
On Friday last week, the Constitutional Court approved the latter request.
The DPP called for all political parties to respect the ruling, while the Executive Yuan said it deeply admired the Constitutional Court for safeguarding the constitutional order and the public interest.
In contrast, the KMT said the ruling showed that judicial independence is dead and that the grand justices had become henchmen of a political party, the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the Control Yuan.
TPP legislative caucus convener Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the court’s ruling was regrettable, but not surprising.
It is also not surprising that the backlash from the KMT and TPP has consisted of venting political emotions.
The Constitutional Court said its ruling was firmly based on the norms and framework of the Constitution. It refused to be intimidated by the attacks and vilification aimed at it by the KMT and TPP. Instead, it held the basic line defense of the constitutional order.
The Constitution does not say that the president must deliver a “state of the nation” address to the legislature, or answer legislators’ questions immediately or within a set period.
Such rules created by the amendments appear to overstep the boundaries of the powers of the Legislative Yuan, and conflict with the constitutional principle of the separation of powers.
The amendments stipulate that officials cannot refuse to answer questions or provide information in a legislative investigation, and cannot lie or behave in a way that is contemptuous of the legislature. Together with their punitive clauses, the amendments clearly encroach on the Executive Yuan’s power.
It is also doubtful that the legislature has the power to initiate the impeachment of the premier or other officials in the Executive Yuan, which has equal standing with the Legislative Yuan under the Constitution.
If the Constitutional Court had not suspended the implementation of the punitive clauses for “contempt of the legislature,” anyone could formally accuse administrative officials of such an offense, upon which prosecutors would have to investigate them. If that were to happen, the procedures could cause the accused officials significant and possibly irreparable harm.
The grounds cited by the Constitutional Court for its ruling are strong and persuasive, without bias or political considerations. The criticisms leveled at it by the KMT and TPP are therefore an attempt to shirk those two parties’ responsibility for proposing and enacting this reckless set of amendments.
Tien Fong-wen
New Taipei City
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