President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday approved the Cabinet's request to return a set of contentious legislative reform bills to the legislature, which could hold a final vote on Tuesday next week at the earliest.
The changes to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code were passed by opposition lawmakers voting in the majority on May 28.
The Executive Yuan on Thursday last week formally decided to return the legislation to lawmakers for reconsideration pending approval from the president, a power afforded to it under the Additional Articles of the Constitution.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Lai at 11am on Tuesday sent the approved proposal back to the Cabinet, while the Presidential Office secretary-general notified the Legislative Yuan of the decision, office spokesperson Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said.
The president carefully considered the Cabinet’s reasoning and decided to approve its constitutionally afforded right to return the legislation, Kuo said.
He hopes all parties will carefully scrutinize the content of the bills and reach a consensus that is legal, constitutional and prioritizes national interests, Kuo added.
Article 3-2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution stipulates that if the Executive Yuan finds a bill passed by the Legislative Yuan difficult to execute, it can within 10 days of receiving it request the legislature to reconsider the bill, provided it has the president’s approval.
The legislature is required to convene at most seven days after receiving the request and vote on whether to uphold the passage of the bill within 15 days.
More than half of all sitting legislators — or a minimum of 57 votes in the current legislature — must vote yes to uphold the bill.
If the legislature fails to reach a decision within this period, it would become invalid.
The soonest the legislature could reach a conclusion is on Tuesday next week.
Additional reporting by CNA
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS