Opposition lawmakers are to consider freezing the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ budget and requiring legislative approval for electricity price changes, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi said yesterday, after the ministry the day before said it would maintain electricity price hikes.
The legislature on Tuesday passed a nonbinding motion to freeze electricity rates in a partisan 59-50 vote, with the Taiwan People’s Party joining the KMT in supporting the measure.
The ministry said it would keep the rates that went into effect last month, adding that Article 49 of the Electricity Act (電業法) mandates a twice-yearly committee meeting to decide on prices based on a stipulated formula.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Fu said the caucus would consider freezing the ministry’s budget, apart from salaries and essential items, during the next review.
In addition, the legislature is tomorrow to review an amendment to Article 49 that would require legislative approval for any electricity price changes, he added.
At a separate news conference, Democratic Progressive Party caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that Tuesday’s vote provided another point of view, but a legislative motion does not supersede the law.
Electricity prices are under the purview of the executive branch, she said, adding that legislative approval would overstep constitutionally mandated separation of powers.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS