The meeting between President Chen Shui-bian (
The bill was blocked from being put on the legislative agenda for deliberation because of objections from the KMT and People First Party (PFP), which between them dominate the legislature's Procedure Committee.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-fang (
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Ma shouldn't allow the KMT to continue blocking the bill in the legislature, Tsai said.
"Would you please advise Ma in the KMT's Central Standing Committee that he should not make empty promises," Tsai told the KMT legislators.
Pan-blue legislators yesterday also rejected a bill to review the president's nominations for the Control Yuan, which has been blocked since Feb. 1 last year.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
After a meeting between Ma and PFP Chairman James Soong (
Commission candidates are named by political parties in proportion to their number of seats in the Legislative Yuan.
While the pan-blue camp yesterday also shot down other bills that had been initiated by the pan-green camp, the Procedure Committee did pass the bill to amend the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例) with the aim of reestablishing the committee.
The amendment was approved for its second and third reading in the legislature next Tuesday.
Although bills are usually only tabled in the legislature when there is consensus among all legislative caucuses, the amendment was sent to the legislature despite failing to gain the support of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (
KMT caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
In other developments, a pan-blue proposal to repeal the government's reform plans for the preferential 18 percent interest-rate scheme for retired teachers and civil servants was also passed for discussion next Tuesday.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
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