Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭) yesterday proposed amendments to the Legislators’ Conduct Act (立法委員行為法) to limit the power of police to constrain the personal freedom of lawmakers when in session at the Legislative Yuan.
The proposal comes after physical altercations involving KMT lawmakers who tried to block the nomination process of Control Yuan members in July.
KMT leaders had accused Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) of the Democratic Progressive Party of authorizing excessive police force to protect then-Control Yuan presidential nominee Chen Chu (陳菊), saying that involving the police had led to obstructions of their personal freedom and legislative duties.
Photo: CNA
Yeh proposed the amendments to outline strict rules on the use of police force inside the parliament.
“When police officers limit legislators’ movements and personal freedom, disrupting their legislative duties within the parliamentary grounds, severe punishment must be imposed, with sentences being 50 percent higher than usual. This proposed draft will be submitted next Tuesday,” Yeh said.
Prior to 1991, police had been deployed inside the Legislative Yuan six times, but they had no legal authorization, Yeh said, adding that police had not been deployed for the past 20 years, until July 14 this year.
Photo: CNA
“While legislators were to conduct a review of Control Yuan nominees, legislative top officials called for a large police force to enter the parliament and protect Chen Chu,” she said. “The police action undermined the Legislative Yuan’s independence, setting a deplorable precedent in violating the constitutional framework.”
“In France, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US and other democratic countries, they adhere to the constitutional codes and parliamentary rules,” she added.
Referring to Article 3 of the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法), which stipulates that the legislative speaker must maintain order and conduct legislative proceedings on the basis of fairness and objectivity, Yeh said that there are no provisions granting the speaker the right to deploy the police.
The authority to deploy the police should be limited to maintaining order and removing obstacles to legislative proceedings, she said, adding that “the rules must guarantee the independence and self-governance of the Legislative Yuan.”
“When obstructions to the proceedings occur, legislators across party lines must try to solve the problem within one day, conforming to the self-governance principle of the Legislative Yuan,” Yeh said.
Other than the Sixth Special Police Corps and one security police squadron at the Legislative Yuan, other police units should be in general prohibited from entering the parliament grounds, Yeh added.
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