President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he had signed into law controversial amendments that would expand the legislature’s power, but that he would soon seek a ruling on their constitutionality.
Lai said he supports legislative reform, but not the unconstitutional expansion of legislative power.
“Legislative reform must comply with the law and the Constitution,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
The Legislative Yuan’s investigative powers must not infringe upon judicial power and the power of the Control Yuan, “let alone infringe upon people’s basic rights such as privacy, business secrets and freedom from compelled speech,” he said.
Lai said he would therefore seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court to safeguard constitutional order and uphold people’s basic rights.
He added that he would also apply for “a preliminary injunction” by the court to stop the amended laws from being implemented before it issues a ruling on their constitutionality.
Regarding the amendments “obligating” the president to deliver an annual state of the nation address to the legislature and engage in an impromptu question-and-answer session, Lai said it was an “attempt to change the constitutional design of responsible government.”
The constitutional order deems that the president is not accountable to the Legislative Yuan and is therefore not required to deliver an address to the legislature. However, the president can choose to do so voluntarily.
The amendments also conflate the Executive Yuan — which is accountable to the Legislative Yuan — delivering policy reports with the president’s address to the legislature, he said.
The Constitution and the law governing legislative power already have a mechanism for the Legislative Yuan to “listen to” the president’s state address.
“I have said before I am willing to deliver it in the legislature under an arrangement in compliance with the Constitution,” Lai said.
He added that he would deliver the address to the legislature only after a Constitutional Court ruling on the issue.
Lai called on the opposition parties not to make “rash decisions” before the ruling.
In response to the opposition’s claims that Constitutional Court judges were appointed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s administration and so are likely to rule in favor of the government, Lai said they were appointed by different administrations and have made a range of rulings.
“They have made the rulings to safeguard Taiwan’s democratic constitutional order and to move the country forward. I believe they will do so this time as well,” he said.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday voted down the Cabinet’s request for it to reconsider the amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code.
The Cabinet and the DPP have said they would separately seek rulings from the Constitutional Court.
The Control Yuan yesterday said it would also hold a press conference today to state its decision to seek a ruling from the Constitutional Court as well as file a “preliminary injunction” to safeguard its rights.
Additional reporting by Lin Tse-yuan
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