Tussles between governing and opposition lawmakers in the past few weeks over legislative reform bills are likely to continue at the main chamber of the legislature in Taipei when debate resumes tomorrow.
Lawmakers stopped the review of several reform bills at about midnight on Friday as Legislative Speaker Han Kuo- yu (韓國瑜) announced the end of the day’s plenary session at 11:28pm, and said the proceedings would resume tomorrow.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) describes the legislative reforms bills as “an unconstitutional abuse of power,” while opposition parties say reforms would enable better oversight of the Executive Yuan.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The opposition says that reform is needed to create a better balance of power between the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan. It also says that the changes are in line with previous proposals by the DPP.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and its opposition partner, the Taiwan People’s Party, say the bills would create more transparency and make the government more accountable. Opposition lawmakers say that in the past officials have deliberately dodged their questions during regular appearances in the legislature, falling short in their duty to explain their actions and policies.
The opposition wants the legislature to have the power to require government officials, the military, private entities and private individuals to provide witness testimony and documents to assist in probes.
Individuals or entities that do not comply could be repeatedly fined as much as NT$100,000. If statements provided by officials asked to provide testimony are found to be false, those persons could be fined between NT$20,000 and NT$200,000 with the approval of the legislature.
The law would also require the president to make an annual state of the nation address in front of lawmakers and answer questions on the spot.
The DPP and its supporters say the changes to the law amount to legislative overreach. They say the bill has been rushed though committees and their feedback ignored, an accusation the opposition denies, stating the bills all went through the committee, cross-caucus negotiations and public hearings.
One of the DPP’s chief concerns is that the bill could be weaponized to disrupt President William Lai’s (賴清德) government. The expansion of the legislature’s investigative powers opens the possibility of a single lawmaker being able to request all manner of sensitive or confidential information about the government’s operations, including military matters, the DPP said.
That could bog down the government in constant probes and possibly legal cases. Critics also worry it greatly increases the risk of confidential information being leaked.
The opposition says such concern is a non-issue as any lawmaker who leaks information would be held legally accountable.
On Taiwan’s relations with China, the Constitution says that cross-strait relations and national defense are the president’s responsibilities. The ability to question and request information from the president could give the legislature greater oversight of relations with China. The opponents of the bill says this would infringe upon the president’s ability to manage cross-strait relations and is therefore unconstitutional.
Regarding how Lai could respond to the law, he could ask the 15 justices of the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the law. If the court declares the law unconstitutional, it would immediately become invalid.
However, Lai cannot ask the court to intervene until the legislation formally becomes law. The court has a history of moving slowly, meaning Lai’s government would probably start facing probes in the legislature before the court is able to act.
He could also stall. Once passed, the legislature would send the law to the Cabinet, which has the option to send it back to lawmakers to be reassessed in a process that could stretch to several weeks. Eventually, the Cabinet would have to pass Lai the law to sign.
He does not have a veto, but Taiwan politics could still find itself in an unprecedented situation should he refuse to sign the legislation. In the event of such an impasse, the Constitutional Court would likely be asked to rule on what should happen next. It has not shied away from making difficult interpretations in the past, such as in 2017 when it ruled that laws must be changed to allow gay marriage.
Lai would also have the nuclear option: Seeking to dissolve the legislature. Under Taiwan law, DPP lawmakers could file a no-confidence motion against their own premier, relieving him of his duties. The outgoing premier could then ask the president to dismiss the legislature.
If Lai did this, the political costs would likely be astronomical. Not only would he be sacrificing his own premier, he would anger voters across the nation for booting from office the lawmakers they elected just this January.
Regarding the impact on markets, it is rare for domestic political confrontations to make a ripple. The benchmark TAIEX remained stable during the Sunflower movement in 2014, during which protesters opposing a trade deal with China occupied parliament for several weeks.
So far, the past week’s protests have done little to stir investor concerns: The stock market hit new record highs in the two days following Tuesday’s initial protests, and the New Taiwan dollar’s moves have been muted.
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