The Taiwan Bar Association yesterday urged legislators not to circumvent established procedures to push through legislative reforms, while condemning a massive brawl that erupted between lawmakers on Friday.
Voting on the amendments to Article 15 of the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) — proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party legislators — was eventually done close to midnight by a show of hands without recording the names of the voters after scuffles and procedural stalling tactics by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.
The association in a statement said that one party was “wrecking the operating principles of Taiwan’s constitutional democracy” to pursue its own interests.
Photo: Lin Liang-sheng, Taipei Times
The actions of opposition lawmakers to push through bills that would expand legislators’ powers and authorize funding for infrastructure in the east were taken without deliberation or review in legislative committees, in an effort to go straight to voting to pass a third reading, it said.
“The bills would have a great impact on the functioning of the government and the nation’s democratic constitutional order. They would also involve planning and authorization for significant portions of the budget, and have important ramifications for all people,” the association said.
It urged lawmakers to abide by democratic principles and follow legislative procedures, to ensure that bills receive legitimate scrutiny.
In addressing significant amendments and bills for major public infrastructure projects, the legislature must confer with all members for deliberation and receive feedback through established procedures before voting, it said.
The proposed bills would make “contempt of legislature” a punishable offense, while seeking more than NT$2 trillion (US$62.1 billion) for highway and high-speed rail projects.
The Legislative Yuan did not exercises its mandated functions in ensuring that the bills followed legislative procedures, and it had contravened those rules by voting using a show of hands, the association said.
KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu said that a vote by a show of hands conforms to Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Yuan (立法院議事規則).
The bills had gone through three public hearings and a presentation at a dedicated meeting, Yang said.
She said that DPP lawmakers had disrupted procedure by raising 40 motions to adjourn, when the bills underwent a clause-by-clause review at legislative committee meetings.
“We request that when speaking on these issues, the Taiwan Bar Association base their comments on facts,” she said, adding that association chairwoman Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), a lawyer and former DPP legislator, has political leanings on the issue.
“We ask Yu not to have double standards, and to remember the need to reform the Legislative Yuan,” she said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS